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WHEN JESUS WROTE 
ON THE GROUND 

EDGAR DeWITT JONES, D.D. 



WHEN JESUS WROTE 
ON THE GROUND 

Studies, Expositions and Meditations 
In The Life of the Spirit 



BY 

EDGAR DeWITT JONES, D.D. 

MINISTER OF CENTRAL CHRISTIAN CHURCH, DETROIT 

Author of "The Inner Circle" "The Wisdom of God's 
Fools" "Fairhope" etc. 



WITH AN APPRECIATION BY 

DR. CHARLES CLAYTON MORRISON 

EDITOR OF "THE CHRISTIAN CENTURY" 



NEW XBjr YORK 
GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY 



'5X-T327 



COPYRIGHT, 1922, 
BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY 



WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND. I 



PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

OCT 12 '■>') 



TO 

THE MEMBERS AND OFFICE-BEARERS 

OF 

FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH, BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS 

WHERE FOR FOURTEEN YEARS THE AUTHOR 
ENJOYED THE HIGH PRIVILEGE OF A FREE PULPIT 

AND TO OTHER FRIENDS AND FELLOW-WORKERS 
OF THAT COMMUNITY 

THIS VOLUME OF SERMONS 
IS GRATEFULLY AND AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED 



EDGAR DeWITT JONES 

An Appreciation by 
CHARLES CLAYTON MORRISON 

Editor of The Christian Century 

Those who know Edgar DeWitt Jones, the man, 
will keep wishing that all who share with them the in- 
spiration of these published sermons might have in 
mind the image of the preacher himself. Lucid and 
heartening as this printed preaching is, it requires the 
personal presence of the preacher to give it its full 
power. Such a remark I well know is a commonplace, 
and it passes usually as a truism. But it is not always 
true. Preachers there are a-plenty whose written 
word is discounted by their personalities, just as Paul's 
opponents declared that his letters were weighty and 
telling, but his personality weak and his delivery be- 
neath contempt. We know that in Paul's case this 
was simply the talk of his enemies, for the results of 
the personal labors of the great apostle are not open 
to dispute and the tone of voice in which he defies 
his opponents in the later chapters of his Second Corin- 
thian letter discloses a sense of personal power which 
a man could hardly have gained save by its successful 
exercise under many crucial tests. 

Yet, however it may have been with Paul, whether 
his outer personality put his great soul at a disadvan- 



ii AN APPRECIATION 

tage as compared to the power expressed in his written 
message, the fact remains that the severest test to which 
the personality of a minister can be put is not in 
preaching to his people but in simply living among 
them. To be sure, his preaching is a part of his living, 
t>ut his living is more, far more, than his preaching. 
No man in the community is subjected to such a search- 
ing of the foundations and hidden recesses of his char- 
acter as is the minister. He stands in the spotlight of 
public attention, not alone when he stands in the pulpit, 
but in his daily walk and conversation. He has far less 
privacy than any other man. The margin of his de- 
portment in which he may be indifferent to the opinion 
of others is narrower than in the case of any of his 
neighbors. Unless his public message is reinforced by 
a personality of depth and grace, his message suffers 
great discount. No matter how brilliant a success a 
minister may achieve in the pulpit, his success will 
lack substance and foundation if his people have to 
speak apologetically of the private side of his life. But 
if his people see in him the embodiment of those ele- 
ments of personal dignity and strength which com- 
mand their respect and win their affection, he becomes 
one more demonstration of the soundness of that 
tradition which places the Christian ministry pre- 
eminent among all professions and vocations. 

All this is background for saying that in the preach- 
ing of Edgar DeWitt Jones the central secret is the 
preacher himself. Readers of these sermons who do 
not personally know Dr. Jones will find here grace and 
charm of expression, vitality of conviction, and un- 
usual skill in homiletical craftsmanship. It is to be 



AN APPRECIATION iii 

hoped that even such readers may be led by the quali- 
ties of the sermons to draw a vague mental picture of 
the preacher himself, and if so, they are sure to feel 
in some subtle fashion the outflow of his personal 
power. But those readers who have sat under the 
ministry of Dr. Jones, or who have come into any 
degree of friendly relationship with him, will approach 
these chapters in quite a different mood. For them 
his published sermon will not be just a deliverance: 
it will be a revelation — a self-revelation of the ideals 
and convictions of a personality that has already ar- 
rested their interest and won their love. The sermon 
will not be merely a piece of writing to be judged 
by its intrinsic argument or beauty ; but a human docu- 
ment, a letter from a friend whose utterances we hold 
as true not so much because he proves them as because 
he says them. 

I well remember my first personal contact with Dr. 
Jones. It was nearly a score of years ago. The occa- 
sion was a gathering of ministers at which Dr. Jones 
read a paper. He made upon me the impression of a 
singularly courtly and gentle spirit. His unusually 
prepossessing countenance and physique, his urbanity, 
his graceful speech, his genuine consideration of the 
feelings and opinions of others created in me the sense 
that here was a man of rare inward moral dignity. But 
from my detached point of view at the time I could 
not help wondering whether the qualities which 
charmed us all might not represent his public reaction 
to high professional ideals more than the inherent 
character of his private self. He was away from home 
at the time! And the skeptic in me suggested that 



iv AN APPRECIATION 

perhaps in the routine of daily living, among people 
to whom his affairs were an open book, he would be 
found acting in the commonplace role of the rest of us, 
as compared to that in which he had exhibited himself 
in our formal meeting and friendly intercourse. 

Since that first meeting I have seen him in all sorts 
of situations. I have seen him in the routine of his 
parish, with his neighbors, his churchfolk, his family, 
and in the seclusion of his study, and I am bound 
to say that I have never seen him in an ungraceful 
role. The chivalrous manner, the gentle, considerate 
address, the deft use of literary lore, the habit of 
carefully formulating his ideas, the elegance and re- 
straint of his phrasing, all these I have found through 
many years of a friendship based upon the most inti- 
mate contacts to be part of the very grain of this 
rare minister's nature. I have seen him at play, I 
have seen him bearing the burden of great personal 
sorrow, I have seen him angry with a godly wrath, 
but I have never seen him in a weak or ungraceful 
posture. I shall always remember the impression he 
made upon me once when protesting against a flagrant 
injustice. He voiced his emotion in measured words 
the last of which proved to my surprise to be a word 
not wholly disallowable by the Christian laity, if con- 
fined to the proper occasion, but which one does not 
expect a minister to pronounce. There was a certain 
majesty about his explosion. One felt the very rafters 
of the universe shake. Yet the protest was spoken 
gently, quietly, without the slightest loss of poise of 
soul. I think that episode gave me a new sounding 
of the deeps of my friend's personality. I felt his 



AN APPRECIATION y 

self-control, his moral power, his leonine vigor as I 
had never had occasion to do before. Once I called 
on him when he was suffering the intense pain of 
illness. I could myself hardly endure the sight of his 
anguish. But with grim humor he reminded me be- 
tween paroxysms that Ian Maclaren had died of the 
thing that was the matter with him! His fineness is 
instinctive. Graciousness is either native to him or 
the gift of Christ in a thorough-going conversion. He 
does not merely contemplate truth and beauty and 
strength, and admire them as external objects; they 
are part of himself, organic with his personality. When 
such a man preaches, therefore, he speaks more than 
words — his words are in very truth spirit and life. 

It is as a conversationalist that I could wish all 
readers of his sermons might know him, as well as a 
pulpiteer. I know of no man who combines more 
winsomely the ingredients of small talk, casual, spon- 
taneous humor, and lofty and earnest discourse in con- 
versation than Dr. Jones. An evening with him leaves 
one's mind dripping with the juices of literature, of 
current events, of whimsical anecdote — the juices, too, 
of one's own best ideas ! For he is not that kind of 
conversationalist who does all the conversing. He 
makes conversation a game of tennis and you are on 
your mettle to return the ball. Moreover he plays the 
game so as to stimulate your best thinking, not to over- 
whelm you by his own. So he always lets you go 
with a certain inner feeling of satisfaction with your- 
self, not only that you got so much from him, but that 
you contributed to the conversation so much yourself, 
and did it so well ! 



vi AN APPRECIATION 

As a preacher, face to face with a congregation, 
Dr. Jones impresses you as putting his object above his 
subject. He has practical ends in view. He wants 
this sermon to accomplish some specific thing. It 
is not on the level of mere institutional interest that 
his object lies — far from that — but in the realm of 
human life. He really wants to bring consolation 
to the bereaved, courage to the wavering, hope to those 
whose heart is the home of shame. I imagine that he 
always visualizes some particular mother or youth or 
business man, some particular sinner or mourner or 
butterfly of fashion, when he speaks to classes of 
them. His subject is conscientiously wrought out, 
but his object dominates his mind both in the prepara- 
tion and delivery of his sermon. This gives point 
and concreteness to his message which much thought- 
ful preaching lacks. 

In his intellectual interests Dr. Jones is one of the 
most modern of the moderns. He is an omnivorous 
reader. He puts his friends to shame by the wide 
range of his knowledge of contemporary literature, 
both magazine and book. But he keeps up the old 
tradition of literary taste. Throughout the war when 
everybody's ears were so dinned with the noise of 
urgent current events that they lost interest in anything 
that anybody ever said before 191 4, this man would 
pass from his morning review of the relative positions 
of the armies at the front to a re-reading of Boswell or 
Pepys ! He kept his perspective. He could not aban- 
don the old books, because they had become his friends. 
He had not simply studied them, he had communed 
with them, and he has cherished them through these 



AN APPRECIATION vii 

years of truculent contemporaneity with a devotion 
second only to that which he has given his friendships 
in the flesh. I do not think the range and depth 
of Dr. Jones* intellectual interests are in any adequate 
degree indicated in this volume of his sermons, in- 
spiring and rich with suggestion as I am sure every 
reader will find the book to be. His social convictions 
are only suggested here, and I know that these convic- 
tions are well seasoned and deep set in his soul. He 
has had many a battle with himself to preach this social 
gospel in which he truly believes. Pastor for many 
years of many men of wealth who rejoiced in the 
"comfortable" evangelical burden of his ministry, he 
has faced the possibility of alienation of friendships and 
serious disturbance of the congregational life, should 
he adopt a harsh presentation of these social demands 
of Jesus which our generation feels must be applied 
to large areas of life unincluded by previous genera- 
tions within the scope of Christian ethics. And I know 
of nothing in which the pastor-heart has so justified 
its impulses as in the way in which it has guided the 
pulpit voice of this particular pastor in his utterance 
of the social gospel. By instruction most deft and 
delicate, the social obligation has been interpreted in 
a way that has altogether won many, and those whom 
it has not fully won are left with an inner divine dis- 
content which is peculiarly salutary. 

It is this shepherd instinct that, after all, is the 
greatest quality in Edgar De Witt Jones. He loves 
people. He believes in them. He invests even the un- 
worthiest of them with dignity. And in the spirit of 
Jesus he delights to serve them. He is a real pastor. 



viii AN APPRECIATION 

He knows little children by name, and they cling to 
him. His footsteps are acquainted with all the levels 
upon which human life holds intercourse. He meets 
the man of affairs at his club without constraint, and he 
talks to the dear nobody with gentle sincerity and with- 
out patronage. The best thing I can say about him is 
that I should like him to be my own pastor. I should 
like to have him as a counsellor in the things of the 
spirit. Just to know that he knew my troubles would 
help me bear them, quite aside from any prescription 
he might offer. And when my faith was baffled, as 
alas, it often is, I think I should find my feet again, 
partly by the wisdom of his instruction, but more be- 
cause he would lead me by the attractions of his fine 
spirit to the rock upon which his own faith seems so 
secure. 

C. C. M. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I THE TOWEL AND THE BASIN 13 

Study of an Unconventional Portrait of Jesus. 

II WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND ... 29 

The "Scarlet Letter" in Our Lord's Time. 

Ill THE CHAPTER OF CHAPTERS 43 

A Summit View from the Mont Blanc of the 
Holy Scriptures. 

IV THREE TIMES A DAY 57 

A Plea for Fixed Seasons of Private Devotions. 

V A GOD WHO WILL NOT LET US GO ... 69 

Some Reflections on the Marvel of the Divine 
Pursuit 

VI THE MANTLE OF ELIJAH 8l 

How God Schools His Prophets and Provides 
for Their Successors 

vii habakkuk's hymn 95 

A Meditation on the Winged Words of an Old 
Testament Saint 

VIII THE LADDER OF PRAYER IO5 

An Elementary Lesson in the Greatest of 
Schools 

IX THE HIGHER SPIRITUALISM II9 

The Deeper Truth Underlying the Vagaries of 
Spiritualistic Experiments 

X GOD MEASURING THE CHURCHES .... I35 
How the Divine Spirit Appraises a Christian 
Congregation 

ix 



x CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XI THE CHURCH IN THY HOUSE ..... I47 
A Brief for the Family Altar 

xii the lord's leading 159 

A Meditation on a Memorable Hymn 

XIII THE PEACE CHRIST GIVES 173 

Why Jesus' Peace Differs from the World's 
Peace 

XIV OTHER SHEEP 185 

How the Good Shepherd Regards the Scattered 
Flock of God 

XV WHEN DEEP CALLETH UNTO DEEP .... I99 
A Never-To-Be-Forgotten Day in the Lives of 
Four Fishermen 

XVI WHAT AND WHERE IS THE HOLY SPIRIT? . . 211 
The Ministry of the Comforter or "God in 
Action" 

XVII THE CHRISTMAS LYRIC 223 

A Hymn of the Nativity Set to Music by the 
Holy Spirit. 



THE ORDER OF THE TOWEL AND BASIN 
Study of an Unconventional Portrait of Jesus 



John 13:1-4. 

Now before the feast of the passover, Jesus 
knowing that His hour was come that He 
should depart out of this world unto the 
Father, having loved His own that were in 
the world, He loved them unto the end. And 
during supper, the devil having already put 
into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, 
to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father 
had given all things into His hands, and that 
He came forth from God, and goeth unto God, 
riseth from supper, and layeth aside H ; s gar- 
ments; and He took a towel, and girded him- 
self. 



WHEN JESUS WROTE ON 
THE GROUND 



THE TOWEL AND THE BASIN 

Some years ago a distinguished American educator 
was the guest of a group of Chinese pastors and 
teachers in an interior town of that young Republic. 
In the course of the conversation he was amazed to 
discover how familiar his hosts were with the Gospel 
narrative. Nothing seemed to have escaped their 
scrutiny, and their knowledge of the details of Jesus* 
life fairly startled the American. Something prompted 
him to ask them this question : "What incident in the 
life of Jesus impressed you most?" 

Now this is a question of more than ordinary sig- 
nificance. It is a question that a group of English or 
American pastors and teachers might ponder with 
profit. It is a question that students of the Gospels 
for many years, and those familiar with the New 
Testament for a life time, ought to weigh carefully 
before answering. It is not a question to be answered 
offhand or glibly; it warrants a fresh study of the 
records and possibly extended reflection. Moreover 
13 



14 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

by our answer to this query it is possible, at least par- 
tially, to appraise us spiritually. 

The Chinese Christians thoughtfully considered the 
American's question. After a long pause, — so long 
that it became embarrassing, — the oldest of the group 
replied : "His washing of his disciples' feet." A con- 
sensus of opinion showed that the other Chinamen were 
in agreement with this answer. That this particular 
incident should have impressed the Oriental mind 
above any of the miracles of Jesus is, to say the least, 
interesting. That a great teacher should take the place 
of a slave and perform a menial service seemed more 
wonderful to that company of new converts to Chris- 
tianity than Jesus' stilling of the storms on Galilee, his 
healing of the Gerasene demoniac, or his calling Laza- 
rus back to life. 

Portraits with our Lord as subject are numerous in 
the renowned galleries of the world. In Florence, 
alone, there are more than fifteen hundred paintings 
with Jesus as theme. The wondrous tints of Del Sarto, 
the rich coloring of Titian, the witchery of Raphael's 
skill, the exquisite miniatures of Fra Angelico have 
helped to fix forever in the minds of the people those 
mountain peaks of our Lord's career : the Nativity, the 
Temptation, the Transfiguration and the Crucifixion. 
It is difficult to think of Jesus in art except in these 
crises and epochal experiences of His ministry. One 
could wish, however, that a more unconventional por- 
trait of Jesus were known in every land where the 
sun shines — I mean this portrait of Jesus washing His 
disciples' feet. 

In the Church of the Divine Paternity, New York, 



THE TOWEL AND THE BASIN 15 

where the gifted J. Fort Newton preaches, there is such 
a picture done in mosaic and placed above the com- 
munion table in the Chancel. On the left is the figure 
of John in an attitude of devotion, in the background 
Andrew and James the son of Zebedee. Bartholomew 
and Philip are seated at the table. Thaddeus and Mat- 
thew are standing. Thomas and Judas seated. Judas 
is placed in the foreground balancing Philip on the 
left. In the center Christ is shown in the act of wash- 
ing the feet of Simon Peter. The coloring scheme is so 
arranged as to throw the central figures in the light with 
darker and richer shades on the extreme edges. It is a 
beautiful and impressive picture, and the more so be- 
cause it is an unconventional portrait of Jesus, one that 
shows Him in the humblest of ministries. In fancy we 
may gaze upon this rich mosaic as we reflect upon the 
meaning of the deed it commemorates. 



It was a daring act of Jesus, this washing of His 
disciples' feet. It was unexpected and altogether con- 
trary to the rank of a teacher or seer. A menial service 
such as this was the duty of a slave, and in the absence 
of a servant from the upper room each of the disciples 
should have performed the act for the other. But the 
minds of the twelve were far removed from so lowly a ; 
ministration; therefore Jesus took the towel and the 
basin and began to bathe the dusty feet of one of the 
twelve. It is difficult to imagine any other teacher of 
Jesus' day at this servant's task. By no leap of fancy 
can one think of the great Gamaliel engaged in so lowly 
an occupation. It was a bold and daring act on the 



16 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 
j 

> part of Jesus, and in perfect keeping with the ven- 

turesomeness that characterized His ministry for man- 
kind. It was this quality — fearlessness to over-ride 

\ tradition and willingness to plough straight across clas9 
distinction in order to serve humanity — that signalized 
the ministry of our Lord. He dined freely at the homes 
of notorious sinners, and the despised Publicans were 
His friends. The fact that the woman of Sychar had 
"a past" did not deter Him from engaging her in con- 
versation; if anything, it increased His desire to help 
her find "the way home." It was this quality of cour- 
age to brave custom and challenge traditions that made 
the early church so unconquerably persistent. Those 
early disciples of Jesus hazarded everything for the 

) sake of a great cause. They jeopardized comfort, posi- 
tion, family ties, even life itself, with magnificent aban- 
don. "Safety last" was the motto of the men and wo- 
men who established the Brotherhood of Christ in a 
thousand fields where darkness reigned. Modern 
Christianity sorely needs this venturesomeness ; this 
dauntless spirit that laughs at difficulties ; balks at noth- 
ing; welcomes opposition; and marches straight into 
peril unafraid. In truth, there can be no real mission- 
ary passion without this divine recklessness as to what 
happens to oneself. There is no place where a Chris- 
tian cannot go when his purpose is good and the oc- 
casion warrants his going. 

There is a widely known and successful minister in 
Baltimore, a Virginian by birth, who is the most cour- 
teous and delightful of men. There is something al- 
most womanly in his gentle ways and kindly address. 
But withal there is a daringness in his faith and a cer- 



THE TOWEL AND THE BASIN 17 

tain boldness of spirit. In witness of this, an incident 
of his ministry is recalled. For several Sundays in 
succession this able preacher had observed a stranger 
in his audience and one who seemed to be greatly in- 
terested in the service. He made several attempts to 
see this stranger at the close of the service, but un- 
successfully. No sooner was the benediction pro- 
nounced than the man hurried out of the church. Af- 
ter a good deal of difficulty he discovered that this man 
was the proprietor of a drinking place and also his 
place of business. One afternoon the minister passed 
through the swinging doors of the saloon and, seeing 
the owner behind the bar, he went over to him and 
shook hands with him. The man was much confused 
and greatly embarrassed. "I am glad to see you, Dr. 

A but not in this place. I would like to have 

you come to see me at my home." "My friend/ 5 replied 
the minister, "if this place is good enough for you to 
do business in, it is good enough for me to come to 
see you in." This was unanswerable, so the proprietor 
removed his white apron, came from behind the bar, 
and with his guest sat down at one of the tables in the 
midst of men who were drinking, laughing, and telling 
ribald stories. From that visit and conversation there 
came about the conversion of that man to the Chris- 
tian faith, his giving up the liquor business, and the 
consequent regeneration of his life. Oh, for a daring 
ministry, a dauntless discipleship of Jesus, an unbeat- 
able Church ! 

Yes, when Jesus took the towel and the basin and 
proceeded to wash the feet of His disciples there was 
daring and audacity in the act. Christianity can never 



18 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

amount to much in any community where its adherents 
are slow to go into the midst of sin and misery, fearful 
lest thereby they lose their religion. Those who possess 
that spirit have little religion to lose and certainly none 
to impart. The great sore spots of the world cannot be 
cured by absent treatment. The last time that General 
William Booth visited America, he told how he came to 
organize the Salvation Army. He went over on the 
east side of London and there he saw the vice, the 
crime, and the suffering of the people. "I hungered for 
hell," he said; "for days I stood in the seething streets, 
drinking it in and loving it all. Yes, I loved the souls 
that made up the muddy stream." That phrase "hun- 
gering for hell" is drastic, but not too drastic. It is 
better to "hunger for hell" in the sense that Booth used 
the term than it is to "hunger for heaven" in that selfish 
sense of desiring to attain unto bliss, and in so doing 
abandon the sin-cursed multitudes to their fate. 

ii 

Jesus washed His disciples' feet and in that act He 
rebuked their selfish neglect and unlovely controversy 
far more effectively than the most scathing words 
could have done. Canon Farrar thinks that as the di- 
sciples were seating themselves at the table the contro- 
versy arose over the seat of honor which each wanted 
for himself. This may have been the case. It is in 
Luke 22 '.24.-30 where we learn that the discussion took 
the form of an argument as to who should be the 
greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. Luke says there 
was a "contention" among them. Thus in the disciples' 
contention for place, rank, power, and authority, the 



THE TOWEL AND THE BASIN 19 

humble preparation for the meal — the washing of their 
travel-stained feet — was ignored or forgotten. Be- 
sides, such was a servant's task, and not one of the 
twelve was minded to take the towel and the basin and 
do this lowly service, each for the other. Jesus took 
in the situation at a glance. He saw the mood of the 
disciples; the contention had inflamed them. They 
were angry and filled with pride, and possibly envy. 
They were thinking of scepters, of thrones, and crowns; 
they were high-minded and haughty of heart. He 
might have rebuked them sternly, even sarcastically, 
if indeed our Lord ever spoke on that wise. But He 
said not a word. Instead He took a towel, twisted it 
about his waist like a girdle ; then a basin, poured water 
in it, and kneeling down began to wash the feet of a 
guest. Those who saw the "Passion Play" in 1910 will 
never forget the exceeding great tenderness of the 
scene when Anton Lang, as Jesus, knelt at the feet of 
Johan Zwink, who impersonated Judas Iscariot, and 
began to wash his feet. It was more memorable than 
the famous trial or crucifixion scenes. It moved the 
spectators to tears. 

Christ washed the feet of Judas! 
And thus a girded servant, self-abased, 
Taught that no wrong this side the gate of heaven 
Was e'er too great to wholly be effaced 
And thus unasked, in spirit be forgiven. 

"Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things 
into His hands, and that He came forth from God, and 
goeth unto God, riseth from supper, and layeth aside 
His garments; He took a towel, and girded Himself." 
Here is a new idea of Godlikeness, a new conception 



20 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

of Divinity. And that the only begotten of the Father 
should thus take upon himself the service of a menial, 
and with such winsomenese withal, is too wonderful for 
us to comprehend. And yet, since God is Love how 
could it be otherwise. 
yc. In that act of washing the disciples* feet Jesus washed 
| more than the soil from off their flesh. What He did to 
their hearts was greater than what He did for their 
bodies. By that act He washed away envy and sordid 
ambition, jealousy and foolish pride, from the hearts 
of the eleven. Even Judas could never be the same 
man again after the Master had thus washed his feet. 
Who knows how closely related was Judas' recollection 
of this ineffable act and his flinging the blood money 
at the feet of the priests crying: "I have sinned in 
that I have shed innocent blood." Love is never so 
powerful as when it glows in acts, when it pulsates 
deeds. Example is as much better than precept as is 
character than ceremony. Men have a habit of forget- 
ting what we say in supreme moments but they never 
forget what we do in hour of crisis. What is there so 
great and so melting as sacrificial love? To what un- 
expected ends and to what renunciations will such 
love go. 

I recall an incident, an unconventional episode, one 
too in which a minister was the central figure, a man 
justly famed for his singularly upright and beautiful 
life; the most fully orbed minister of Christ's Gospel it 
has been my good fortune to know. This man has a 
dislike for tobacco that amounts almost to antipathy. 
He deplores its use in any form and particularly abhors 
a pipe. It came about that his only son early took to 



THE TOWEL AND THE BASIN 21 

smoking and by a strange irony he chanced to prefer a 
pipe most of all. The great-hearted father was pained 
and disappointed, but he took, as was his wont, the 
larger view, going so far as to tell the youth that if he 
was determined to smoke it was unnecessary for him 
to go away from the house to indulge the habit. Some 
months later, possibly a year, this minister consulted 
his daughter, who was also the keeper of his home, 
as to what practical Christmas gift she thought he 
should purchase for her brother, something too that 
he would especially prize. The young woman an- 
swered immediately and definitely, "Get him a pipe, 
father, he needs a new one." The minister showed the 
surprise he felt. "But you would scarcely expect me to 
do that, daughter/' he replied. "Father, you asked me 
what practical gift brother would appreciate, and I an- 
swered you accordingly. He certainly needs a new 
pipe." The father made no further reply but into his 
calm, strong face there came a look that only love 
can impart. Christmas morning in the minister's home 
the gifts were distributed, after the family's custom. 
The father handed his son a package. The lad un- 
wrapped it, never suspecting what the gift might be. 
When he saw what it was he looked at his father, then 
at the pipe, then back again at his father, and as he 
saw the love light shining in those dear eyes and light- 
ing up the strong face, the boy understood. He dropped 
the pipe and sprang to his father's side, threw his 
arms around him, and, laying his head on his father's 
shoulder, burst into tears ! Oh, the power, the glory, 
the wonder of the ministry of the towel and the basin ! 



22 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

in 

Jesus' lowly act in the upper room was a token, a 
\ sign for all who would be like Him. "A servant," He 
said, "is not greater than his Lord; neither one that 
is sent than He that sent him. I have given you an 
example that ye also should do as I have done unto 
you." In so saying, Jesus did not institute an ordi- 
nance to be perpetuated by the ceremonial washing of 
His disciples' feet; He performed a necessary service, 
lowly and menial only in the eyes of those who thought 
so. The lesson here is that no position in life, no 
rank or wealth absolves a follower of Jesus from a 
similar service. Jesus taught by this significant inci- 
dent that the giving of a cup of cold water, the assist- 
ing of a decrepit man, an aged woman, or an affrighted 
little child across a crowded street; a word of encour- 
agement, a letter of comfort, counsel, or congratulation ; 
a cheerful, happy smile, a simple "thank you" for the 
slightest service rendered is the privilege of us all and 
becomes the mighty and the famous as well as the 
obscure and the unknown. 

I number among my friends a man who knew inti- 
mately David Swing. He has told me many things 
about that great preacher whose influence still lives, 
the most interesting being an incident of the great 
Chicago fire. He described for me the famous preacher 
in the midst of a mass of humanity, fleeing from the 
burning district. The refugees were carrying house- 
hold articles and personal belongings of almost every 
description and kind — bedding, clothing, books, dishes 
and all sorts of odd keepsakes. A little girl had 



THE TOWEL AND THE BASIN 23 

brought her pet bird. She carried the cage with diffi- 
culty and the crowd jostled her roughly. By and by 
the crowd became so great and the pressure so strong 
that the little girl began to cry for the safety of her 
pet. Dr. Swing heard the sobbing, saw the child's 
plight, and came at once to her aid. He clasped the 
little girl's hand in one of his own and with the other 
lifted high the bird cage above the heads of the people. 
Thus the great preacher and the little girl went their 
way through the vast crowd that awful night, and the 
troubled heart of the child was comforted and con- 
tented. 

It was after the washing of His disciples' feet that 
Jesus said, "A new commandment I give unto you, 
that ye love one another, even as I have loved you that 
ye also love one another. By this shall all- men know 
pat ye are My disciples if ye have love one for an- ' 
other." This, then, is the badge of discipleship ; this 
symbol of the towel and basin; this manifestation of I 
love in deed; by this sign of the towel and basin does 
Christianity conquer. This, my brethren of the min- 
istry, is the order for us, not the order of the book 
and pen, alluring though that ministry may be; nor 
the order of the office and executive staff, efficient as 
that kind of service often is, but the order of the towel 
and the basin — this is the order for all who would 
follow Jesus Christ. 

Forty years ago Bismarck said that in order to 
mold the nation it was necessary to mold the child. 
That is precisely what Germany did and with char- 
acteristic thoroughness. It is not difficult to account 
for the unity and solidarity of the German people. 



24 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

German statesmen, schoolmasters, preachers, and par- 
ents combined to Prussianize the children of the 
Empire. The ideal they conspired to keep before the 
child in the home, school, and church is seen in this 
excerpt from the writings of a distinguished Prussian : 
"When our young children have scarce learned to 
fold their little hands before God, we set a picture be- 
fore them; we tell them to recognize the noblest fea- 
tures; we tell them, 'This is our good King.' Our 
young men, when they are of age to bear arms, look 
with joy and pride on the trim garb of war and say, T 
go in the king's coat.' And when the nation assembles 
to a common political celebration the occasion is no 
feast of the constitution, no day of the Bastille, no 
Panathenaic festival. It is then that we bow in rever- 
ence and loyalty before him who has allowed us to see 
with our own eyes that for which our fathers dreamed 
and yearned, before him who ever extends the bounds 
of the kingdom in freedom, prosperity, and righteous- 
ness; before his majesty, the emperor and king." 

What is it that society most needs at this hour? 
Surely the world is sick and civilization is stricken with 
a deadly malady. Numerous indeed are the remedies 
that are suggested. Some say a revival of conscience, I 
of common honesty, of simple truthfulness is impera- 
tive; others clamor for a new economic order, an in- 
ternational comity, a world sense of social justice; still 
others contend that ajl is hopeless until there be a 
new evaluation of spiritual verities. But one distin- 
guished American when asked by a friend this question, 
startled him with the reply that the country's greatest 



THE TOWEL AND THE BASIN 25 

need is an Emperor. Then he added, "And that 
Emperor's name is Jesus Christ." 

Behold our Emperor! Behold Him girded with a 
towel, and kneeling as He washes His disciples' feet 
Behold Him there in the upper room ! No warlike ap- 
parel, no breast emblazoned with decorations and in- 
signia, no sword in His hand or at His side. Behold 
Him the mightiest of the holy and the holiest of the 
mighty, teaching the supremacy of service, the holiness 
of ministration, the Godlikeness of love ! Behold Him, 
believe Him, and follow Him, O members of the order 
of the Towel and Basin ! 



II 

WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

"The Scarlet Letter" in our Lord's Time. An Ex- 
position of John 8:1-11 



John 8:1-11. 

[But Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. 
And early in the morning He came again into 
the temple, and all the people came unto Him; 
and He sat down, and taught them. And the 
scribes and the Pharisees bring a woman taken 
in adultery; and having set her in the midst, 
they say unto Him, Teacher, this woman hath 
been taken in adultery, in the very act. Now 
in the law Moses commanded us to stone such : 
what then sayest thou of her? And this they 
said, trying Him, that they might have 
whereof to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped 
down, and with his finger wrote on the 
ground. But when they continued asking 
Him, He lifted up Himself, and said unto 
them, He that is without sin among you, let 
him first cast a stone at her. And again He 
stooped down, and with His finger wrote on 
the ground. And they, when they heard it, 
went out one by one, beginning from the eld- 
est, even unto the last: and Jesus lifted up 
Himself, and said unto her, Woman, where 
are they? Did no man condemn thee? And 
she said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said, 
Neither do I condemn thee : go thy way ; from 
henceforth sin no more.] 



II 

WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

There is a curious fact in connection with this pas- 
sage of Scripture. In the Revised Version, the eleven 
verses together with the last verse of the preceding 
chapter are set off by themselves and bracketed. At 
the bottom of the page is a notation which reads, 
"Most of the ancient authorities omit John 7 153, 8:1- 
11. Those which contain it vary much from each 
other." What does this mean? It means that this 
particular Scripture is not a part of the original manu- 
script of John's Gospel. It signifies, not that the inci- 
dent is unauthentic, but that it is not entitled to a place 
in this particular book or gospel without explanation. 
Even a casual student of the Scriptures will observe 
that the incident has little or no connection with what 
goes before or comes after; that it breaks in unex- 
pectedly upon John's quiet discursive narrative. It is 
an interloper, so to speak, and properly belongs set off 
and bracketed, by itself. 

The interesting question is, how does an interpola- 
tion of this kind come about. It is not an isolated in- 
stance, but one of two or three. The sixteenth chapter 
of Mark, from the ninth to the nineteenth verses, is of 
a similar character; that is, it does not belong to the 
original Gospel of Mark. The explanation is simple. 
29 



30 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

There is recorded in the four Gospels only a small por- 
tion of what Jesus said and did. John himself says in 
the last verse of his Gospel, "There are also many other 
things which Jesus did, the which if they should be 
written every one, I suppose that even the world itself 
would not contain the books that should be written.' ' 
This is, of course, a dramatic and emphatic way of say- 
ing that only a few of the incidents in the life of Jesus 
have been preserved in the sacred writings. Before 
these records were written down in the form that we 
now have them, they were committed to memory and 
passed on from person to person orally. It must be 
true in the very nature of the case that we have only 
fragments of Jesus' teaching, although they are suffi- 
cient for their purpose. It would not be at all sur- 
prising, however, now that the Turk has been driven 
out of Palestine, that excavations in the vicinity of 
Jerusalem should reveal additional manuscripts of say- 
ings and events in His life, and possibly epistles of 
Paul. 

With these facts in mind we are in a position to un- 
derstand why this memorable incident is bracketed 
and set apart in the Revised Version of the Holy Scrip- 
tures. To summarize: it does not belong properly to 
John's Gospel, but the truth of the incident is not at all 
questioned. Indeed the episode bears upon its face the 
credentials of fact. It paints a portrait of Jesus, in 
perfect keeping with the record of His life in the Gos- 
pels, in the midst of a very unusual and trying situation. 



WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 31 



The incident evidently occurred at that period in 
Jesus' ministry when His popularity with the masses 
had intensified the hatred of the Scribes and Pharisees 
against Him. Moreover His denunciation of many of 
the religious leaders of His day as "Blind guides/' 
"Hypocrites," "Whited sepulchers," had fed their 
wrath to a white heat. Thus while He is teaching in 
the Temple the Scribes and the Pharisees bring a 
woman before Him, and charge her with having broken 
the seventh commandment. They testify against her 
and aver that beyond any doubt she is guilty. They 
cite with unction the Law of Moses, which commanded 
such a transgressor to be stoned, and submit the case 
to Jesus with the query, "What then sayest Thou of 
her?" 

Now the purpose of this most unusual occurrence is 
indicated in the sixth verse, "That they might have 
whereof to accuse Him." They did not bring the 
woman to Jesus because they were deeply grieved or ] 
shocked at her conduct. They were not interested in 
the morals of Jerusalem particularly. They brought 
her that they might confuse and entrap Jesus. There 
is something diabolical in such a purpose, and the 
method the enemies of Jesus resorted to in this instance 
to carry it out. To come bringing this woman into the 
presence of Jesus with such a charge reveals a hardness 
of heart that is almost incredible. The wily Scribes 
and Pharisees tried upon numerous occasions to entrap 
Jesus in His talk, but in no other record of their malig- 
nant trickery is there such a vehicle employed as in this 



32 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

incident. They simply took advantage of the guilt of 
this woman to further their own evil designs against 
Jesus. They reasoned that He would be disconcerted, 
to say the least. They believed they had Him between 
the horns of a dilemma, and that they had Him fast. 
If He said "let the woman die in accordance with the 
Law of Moses," they could frame an accusation against 
Him before Pilate, that this new King or religious 
teacher was actually presuming to judge cases involving 
life and death. If, on the other hand, He bade them to 
let the woman go, they could charge Him with heretical 
teaching, and brand Him as a traverser of the Law of 
| Moses. We may believe that they fairly chortled in 
their malicious glee. 

The scene was one of shameful depravity, a strange 
commingling of indelicacy and brazen effrontery. Be- 
hold that strange court! There is the calm and pure- 
hearted, clear-eyed Christ; there the company of 
Scribes and Pharisees, self-righteous, hating the Gali- 
lean teacher, congratulating themselves that they have 
caught Him at last in the snare from which He cannot 
^escape; and there in the midst is the pitiful spectacle of 
the woman charged with the transgression of the Law. 
The poor woman shrinks from such cruel and uncalled- 
for public arraignment, knowing full well that her 
accusers have not haled her before this Teacher be- 
cause they are shocked by her guilt or interested in the 
morals of Jerusalem. It is a most unlovely scene. No 
wonder few sermons are preached upon this incident, 
or that commentaries touch lightly upon this fragment 
appended to John's Gospel. 



WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 33 

ii 

It is difficult to portray what must have been the 
feelings of Jesus, but there is a wealth of suggestion 
as shown by His actions that followed this unseemly « 
act. Jesus stooped down and wrote with His finger 
on the ground. The very act is significant and is one 
of those little human touches which bring Jesus close 
to us. For instance, a friend engages you in conver- 
sation at a street corner. The talk takes a personal 
turn, and as you listen you draw lines or figures in the 
dust of the street with the toe of your shoe, your cane 
or umbrella. Or again, you are talking over the tele- 
phone, and the while you draw pictures or make fig- 
ures on a piece of paper, or scribble on the cover of 
the telephone directory. This is characteristic of hu- 
man nature; it is sometimes a token of emotion or 
confusion, oftener a mere diversion. In Jesus' case,* 
however, it indicated something more than embarrass- 
ment and something less than confusion. The sheer 
coarseness of the thing, the indelicacy of the act on 
the part of the woman's accusers of bringing her before 
Him; their malignant desire to entrap Him — all this 
reacted upon the keen mind and pure heart of Jesus 
in such a way that He did not care to look upon the 
guilty woman, nor meet the impudent stare of her hard- 
hearted accusers. Therefore, He stooped down and 
wrote on the ground. 

The accusers of the woman mistook the action of 
Jesus. They thought they saw in His averted face 
and His writing upon the ground confusion and deep 
embarrassment. They assumed He did not know how 



34 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

to answer them. Therefore, they pressed Him the 
more for an answer. Alas ! for them, they got an an- 
swer they little expected. Jesus lifted Himself up and 
said unto them, "He that is without sin among you 
let him first cast a stone at her." Then He stooped 
down and with His finger again wrote on the ground. 
That was a surprise to the group of Scribes and 
Pharisees. They never surmised such an answer as 
that. Instantly each man was compelled to sit in judg- 
ment upon himself. Immediately after Jesus' answer, 
not only the accused but the accusers were on trial. In 
this connection there is a most interesting flashlight 
upon this entire passage of Scripture. The notation in 
the Revised Version informs us that this incident varies 
much in the various manuscripts where it is found. In 
one of the manuscripts there is a startling difference in 
the eighth verse. The sentence is made to say, "He 
wrote upon the ground the sins of each single one of 
them," and the ninth verse, "And they when they read 
it, went out one by one, beginning from the eldest 
even unto the last." This gives an extra dramatic 
setting to Jesus' answer and the writing on the ground- 
Imagine the scene according to this reading. The 
Pharisees bring in the woman, they make their charge. 
Jesus, affecting not to hear them, writes on the ground. 
They continue to badger Him until He looks up and 
says, "He that is without sin among you let him first 
cast a stone at her." Then again he stoops down and 
writes upon the ground. What is He writing there? 
The foremost Pharisee is, of course, the oldest, for 
according to the custom of the Orient the oldest in the 
company is at the front. This old Pharisee looks down 



WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 35 

on the ground where Jesus is writing, and there he 
sees that Jesus has just written the record of a great 
sin that he has committed, and which he thinks is 
known to no one but himself. His conscience awakes 
with a flash. He turns swiftly and edges away from 
the crowd. Jesus has swept His hand across the ground 
to smooth it over and writes again. The next Pharisee 
reads and recognizes a hidden scene in his life, and he 
too, flees, and thus it goes on until all the accusers one 
by one, having seen written on the ground their own 
secret sin, depart silently and swiftly, leaving the 
woman alone with Jesus. 

This version of the memorable incident may not be 
the correct one, but it is interesting and precisely to 
the point. Whether or not Jesus actually wrote on the 
ground the specific sin of each man, His very act of 
silence and of eloquent indictment sent a chill of self- 
judgment to every man's soul. What ! only those with- 
out sin cast a stone at this sinful woman. It was an 
embarrassing answer. It went straight home. Not a 
man could meet the test. They went out from the eldest 
to the youngest, having adjudged themselves to be 
guilty. There is a far-reaching rebuke and warning 
in the answer of Jesus to the Scribes and Pharisees. 
Nothing is easier than the picking out of a person who 
has committed a notorious sin and in self-righteous 
pride pointing the finger of scorn at the poor unfortu- 
nate. It has been one of the travesties of justice that 
individuals have been made to suffer for crimes, 
while communities that were particeps criminis have 
gone scot-free. Every wrong that is committed by an 
individual has in one way or another a rootage in the 



36 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

wrong of a community. We are under obligation to 
revise our methods of dealing with sin and transgres- 
sion of the moral law. As members of society we are 
in part to blame. Each one of us has a share in the 
crime of poverty, drunkenness, and the long list of sins. 
Not each one of us is individually guilty, but we are a 
part of an order of society that has produced and some- 
times fostered these delinquencies. 

in 

The accusers one by one go away and Jesus is left 
alone with the accused. Again it is not difficult to 
imagine the scene. There is Jesus with His stainless 
life, His pure heart and clean mind; and there before 
Him is the woman who feels in her soul the search- 
ing purity of the Teacher to whom she has been 
brought. She makes bold to look in His eyes and 
upon His face, and in the presence of such wholeness 
of character, she sees her own life, and away deep 
\ down chords begin to vibrate that have been silent 
for years. What will Jesus do with the woman ? Will 
He rebuke her ? Will He deal with her as He did with 
the Scribes and Pharisees? Never. He lifted Himself 
up and said unto her, "Woman, where are they? Did 
no man condemn thee?" And she said, "No man, 
Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn thee; 
go thy way, from henceforth sin no more." Jesus saw 
that this woman was self -condemned, and out of peni- 
tence there comes always a new life. He sought to 
restore confidence and impart hope to this woman by 
letting her know that He believed in her. Others 
might expect her to sin; He expected her to abandon 



WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 37- 

sin. The very attitude that Jesus took toward her 
brought about a new attitude on her part toward her 
sin. There is no making light of her sin on Jesus' 
part, but the dealing with the situation in such a way 
as to bring about repentance which is a ceasing to do 
evil and a learning to do well. m 

We do not know what became of this woman. She * 
drops out of the narrative as abruptly as she came in, 
but we may believe that from that hour she was a 
changed soul. The recollection of that experience 
would be a memory to bless and burn. We have a 
right to believe that she went away from the presence 
of Jesus that memorable day with hope singing in her * 
heart. Oh, that the world would begin to deal with 
men and women according to the standard of Jesus 
Christ. Society has been slow to adopt the single 
standard of morality. Woman is the age-old sufferer 
— man the long time privileged sex. On the whole this 
is "a man's world." Only since the great war has 
England placed both sexes on an equality in the matter 
of divorce. Hitherto the husband could divorce his 
wife for infidelity to the marriage vow, the wife had 
no recourse against her husband for a similar wrong. 
In one of our states, until a few years ago, the law 
permitted a husband to obtain a divorce upon proof of 
a single violation of the marriage vow, while the wife 
was compelled to prove habitual violation on the part 
of her husband. The debt of woman to the teachings 
and spirit of Jesus is unpayably great. He championed 
her rights as He did the rights of the child. In this 
singularly impressive incident of the lone woman and 
her accusers, there is more than a suggestion of the 



38 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

right method to pursue in dealing with sin and society. 
Penalizing the woman and letting the man go free is 
neither just nor expedient. 

"Christ's method of dealing with the social evil," 
said Dr. Lyman Abbott, "is in principle precisely the 
same as His method of dealing with crime — the method, 

(not of permission and regulation, not of mere prohibi- 
tion and punishment, but of compassion and cure. It 
is the method which Christian charity is pursuing with 
reasonable measure of success in individual cases — but, 
alas! in too few. It condemns licentiousness in man 
and woman alike — in one no less than in the other. In 
so far as this licentiousness is a violation of the social 
order, Christ's method would prohibit it by law. The 
lawbreaker would be arrested, not to be punished for 
her sin, but to be cured of it, to be separated from the 
evil influences which would lead her into paths of vir- 
tue, and wherever the cure could not be effected, to be 
kept in confinement for the rest of her life, not to pun- 
ish her for past sin, but to protect her and to protect 
the community from sin in the future. Not until our 
civilization shall have wrought out in life what Haw- 
thorne wrought out in 'The Scarlet Letter' and the 
man takes his stand in the pillory by the woman, and 
the scarlet letter is on the breast of the one as on the 
breast of the other, and both alike bear the ineffable 
shame, and each helps the other back to the ineffable 
| glory, shall we find Christ's remedy." 

In connection with this Scripture I recall an episode 
which will remain with me as long as memory lasts. 
A member of the church to which I minister brought 
to my study a young woman whom she had res- 



WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 39 

cued from the streets. The girl — for she was little 
more — was the victim of betrayal, and had been driven 
away from her makeshift of a home and deserted. She 
was different from most of her type, the charm of 
modesty was not all gone, the bloom of maidenhood had 
not been entirely destroyed. She was broken utterly 
and desired to begin life all over again and accept Jesus 
as her Saviour and Friend. She had had little, if any, 
religious training and knew scarcely nothing of the 
content of the Scriptures, even the Gospels. As I 
looked at her I was deeply touched by her plight. She 
resembled a beautiful winged butterfly that had been 
caught in a driving rain, beaten to earth, bruised and 
unable to fly. I found speech difficult and decided to 
read to her from the New Testament. Something 
prompted me to turn to this passage from St. John 
which I read slowly and without comment. When I 
had finished I looked up to see before me a face trans- 
figured, though suffused with tears. Her eyes were 
wet but eloquent with the speech her tongue could not 
tell ; they spoke as so many words and said : "Is that 
in the Bible ? Did Jesus say that ? O, God be praised ! 
there is hope and pardon for me, even me!" 



Ill 

THE CHAPTER OF CHAPTERS 

A Summit View From the Mount Blanc of the Holy- 
Scriptures 



John 17:4. 

I glorified Thee on the earth, having accom- 
plished the work which Thou hast given me 
to do. 

John 17:15. 

I pray not that Thou shouldest take them 
from the world, but that Thou shouldest keep 
them from the evil one. 

John 17:19. 

And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that 
they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. 

John 17:20-21. 

Neither for these only do I pray, but for 
them also that believe on me through their 
word ; that they may all be one ; even as Thou, 
Father, art in me, and I in Thee, that they 
also may be in us : that the world may believe 
Thou didst send me. 

John 17:26. 
I in them. 



Ill 

THE CHAPTER OF CHAPTERS 

When John Knox, the famous Scotch reformer, 
was dying, his wife sat by his bedside and asked if she 
should read from the Word. "Yes," he replied, "where 
I first cast anchor." Thereupon she read from John, 
the seventeenth chapter. As the dying man grew 
weaker and the power of speech failed him, another 
standing by called to him loudly as to one journeying 
afar, "John Knox, hast thou hope?" He slowly lifted 
his finger and pointed upward. That was all, and that 
was enough. 

Others besides Knox have called for this chapter as 
the lamp of life grew dim. It is said of Bossuet, the 
renowned French preacher, that by his request this 
chapter was read to him sixty times during his last 
illness. Profounder Scripture than this there is not 
in all the Bible. It is the great High Priestly prayer of 
our Lord, and there is none like it. In the course of his 
last lecture given shortly before his death, Melanchthon 
said: "There is no voice which has ever been heard 
either in heaven or in earth, more exalted, more holy, 
more fruitful, more sublime, than this prayer offered 
up by the son of God." Fitting, is it not, that at the 
close of his most remarkable discourse there should 
follow this most remarkable of His prayers? The 
43 



44 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

twenty-six verses of this chapter fall naturally into four 
sections: First, Jesus' prayer for Himself; second, 
Jesus' prayer for His disciples ; third, Jesus' prayer for 
subsequent believers; and fourth, a final confidential 
utterance from Son to Father. 

One approaches this intercessory prayer of Jesus' 
with something akin to awe. A great and devout stu- 
dent of the Scriptures who spent a life interpreting and 
proclaiming the Gospel, never felt himself equal to at- 
tempt a sermon on John seventeen. It is possible to 
understand such a view without endorsing it. For the 
same reason an artist might refuse to paint the ocean 
because the waters of the great deep are so vast and 
wonderful; or hesitate to put a mountain scene upon 
canvas because, at its best, such a picture would be 
partial and incomplete. This great prayer has been 
preserved, not merely for our admiration, but for our 
study and instruction. It may be remarked in passing 
that the key words of the chapter are "glorify," "keep," 
and "sanctify." 



I GLORIFIED THEE ON THE EARTH J HAVING ACCOM- 
PLISHED THE WORK WHICH THOU HAST GIVEN ME TO 
DO. AND NOW, FATHER, GLORIFY THOU ME WITH 
THINE OWN SELF WITH THE GLORY WHICH I HAD 

with thee before the world was." The marvel of 
these words is twofold. They show that God is glori- 
fied most by a life obedient to His will ; that character, 
and not time, is most necessary in order to do our 
work. There is something positively sublime in the 
attitude of Jesus here, as fully conscious that He had 



THE CHAPTER OF CHAPTERS 45 

yielded perfect obedience to the Father's will. This is 
something more than "Well done, thou good and faith- 
ful servant." Here is a life owning such one-ness with 
the Father and consciousness of duty done, so as to be 
able to say in truth, "Father, I have done Thy will on 
earth as it is done in heaven." Only thirty-three years 
of life and yet completion crowns Jesus' career. What 
orderliness there was in His life, no haste, no flurry, 
no perturbation, but calm and quiet doing of His work 
to the end. How such lofty achievements contrast with 
our lives, so incomplete, so fitful, so feverish, and un- 
finished. Thus a great scientist nearing the end of 
his course cried : "Oh, that I had another century to 
live! I have just begun to learn." Thus an eminent 
author, when informed by his physician that he was 
incurably ill, thought of his unfinished manuscript and 
exclaimed, "Oh, my book, my book!" Likewise Arch- 
bishop Ussher prayed with dying breath, "O God, for- 
give my sins, especially my sins of omission." Con- 
sider our own lives, how fragmentary they are, and 
particularly our lives as confessed followers of the 
Christ. Why, we have not fairly begun to live in 
Him. We are mere novices in the school of prayer ; we 
are unacquainted with great and rich expanses of His 
holy Word; we are in the primary grade in the things 
of the Spirit. Oh, the things undone, what a host 
they are! "Unfinished!" we exclaim, and truthfully. 
Yet we catch glimpses here of a way of life possible to 
us beyond anything we have ever dared to dream. We 
learn here that life cannot be reckoned by figures on a 
dial, or dates on the calendar. Three and thirty years 
He lived in the narrow confines of a little strip of 



46 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

territory not great in the eyes of the world, neverthe- 
less, Jesus could say, "I have finished the work Thou 
hast given me to do." 

It is because He has finished His God-given task 
that Jesus is able to pray to the Father, asking that 
He glorify Him with the glory which He had, before 
the world was. The life with which we have to do in 
this chapter of chapters, neither began nor ended in 
the Palestinian country. Geography can have little, if 
any, bearing upon things Eternal. "Before Abraham 
was, I am." Thus He once spoke simply and as a 
matter of course of the life He had with the Father 
before "the World was." In Christ, and only in Him, 
have we an understandable conception of eternal life; 
our relation to God and to one another in the terms of 
the Spirit. Nor are we to think of Eternal life as 
merely the prolongation of our days, but a life under 
new conditions and deriving power from new sources. 
A life of one dimension, however extended, is not neces- 
sarily a full or desirable life. To summarize Christ's 
prayer for Himself : He presents Himself as the duti- 
ful Son, who has glorified the Father by perfect obedi- 
ence; a life like a perfect mirror reflecting untarnished 
the glory of God Himself. That a mere human being 
could ever pray like this is difficult to believe. There 
is a grandeur and a sublimity in this intercessory prayer 
that is of the Infinite. It is of a humanity exalted to 
the highest degree plus a divinity as potent as it is 
difficult of definition. 



THE CHAPTER OF CHAPTERS 47 



I PRAY NOT THAT THOU SHOULDEST TAKE THEM 
OUT OF THE WORLD, BUT THAT THOU SHOULDEST KEEP 

them from evil." Jesus prays now for His dis- 
ciples. They had been with Him for nearly three 
years; they had continued with Him through His 
temptations; they were His pupils, His friends, His 
companions ; or, to use a pastoral word that Jesus loved, 
His "sheep." During the years He was with them 
He had been their shepherd, and now that He must 
leave them the flock will be scattered. Therefore He 
commends them to the Father tenderly and compas- 
sionately ; but He does not ask that they be taken from 
the world ; He prays that they may be saved from evil. 
Some have eloquently advocated the separation of 
Christians from the world in order to be safe from its 
seductions. Thus, the members of certain religious or- 
ders withdraw from the world, take the vow of perpet- 
ual silence and become as living dead men. But such a 
manner of life does not bring immunity from tempta- 
tion; one has to struggle and battle with himself even 
on a desert isle or in a hermit's cave. Moreover, such 
a way of life is not without its selfish side. What is 
the meaning of the New Testament terms "Salt of the 
earth," "Light of the world," and "leaven" unless they 
teach a witnessing for Christ where there be men and 
women to know, to see, to hear ? The disciples were in 
the world of sin, suffering, and death, but not of the 
world that perishes, the world of mere sight and sound 
and touch. Jesus accomplished His ministry among 
the people, with the people and for the people. He 



48 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

"went about doing good." He visited the people in 
their homes; mingled with them on the street; sailed 
with them on Galilee ; met with them in the synagogue ; 
and during the first part of His ministry the multitude 
thronged Him on every side. Wherever Jesus went 
He brought with Him such a sense of God's presence 
that men, women and children were never the same 
again. For such a way of life of the part of His 
disciples He now prays. He does not pray that John, 
Peter, James, or any of His disciples be taken out of 
the midst of the teeming life of the world in order that 
they may be removed from evil. He prays that they 
remain in the world and be kept from evil. And that 
is His prayer for you and for me, fellow-disciple of the 
Lord. We are not to flee from the crowd, nor avoid 
contact with people ; we are to mingle freely with them ; 
our lot is cast with them ; we be brethren and neighbors, 
children of one Father, all. 

Mingling thus with our fellows daily and amidst 
error, we are to witness for the truth ; amidst the fleet- 
ing and falling things witness for "the things that 
cannot be shaken" ; in a generation which regards sin 
lightly, witness for Him Whom the sins of others put 
to death. Jesus was holy, but God be praised, His holi- 
ness did not restrain Him from touching the hand of 
the leper, from declining an invitation to the homes 
of the publicans and sinners, or from embarrassing 
Him in His conversation with the woman at the well 
of Jacob. He was in the world of suffering, sorrow, 
joy, gladness, but not of the sinful world of sight and 
sound and appetite. And this is the great ideal He has 
left for His disciples. To love mankind and be willing 



THE CHAPTER OF CHAPTERS 40 

to serve the least and lowliest; to be very much and 
often in the darkest and foulest places of earth, and 
there bear a flaming torch and bring a spirit of purity, 
is to be Christian where the need is the deepest and re- 
demption the most Christlike. If sin cannot be segre- 
gated, neither can holiness be isolated. 



"AND FOR THEIR SAKES I SANCTIFY MYSELF THAT 
THEY ALSO MIGHT BE SANCTIFIED THROUGH THE 

truth." Jesus is still praying for His disciples and 
He continues to pray earnestly, wonderfully. He says, 
"I consecrate," — for that is what the word sanctify 
means, and is so placed in the margin of the Revised 
Version. "I consecrate myself for their sake that they 
also might be consecrated to the truth." This is ex- 
alted doctrine; this is supreme service; this is sacri- 
fice of self-sublime. He lays Himself upon the altar, 
so to speak, but not to be consumed merely to be con- 
sumed. A basic principle of Christ's teaching and life 
is not to value any act, however good and noble, for the 
act's sake, but for the sake of others. Torture for 
suffering's sake differs little from pleasure for pleas- 
ure's sake. Self-surrender is at the heart of conversion 
and is fundamental in the Christian life. "Christ 
pleased not Himself," we read ; and did He not say of 
Himself, "I do always the things that are pleasing to 
God." He surrendered His will to the will of God for 
the sake of all God's children. When He hung upon 
the cross and His enemies tauntingly cried, "He saved 
others, Himself He cannot save," they spoke more 
truthfully than they knew. He could not save Himself 



50 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

and others too. It is easy to talk about self-denial ; it 
is another and a harder thing to practice it as a rule 
of life. It is comparatively easy to deny oneself certain 
things on certain days or seasons of the year, but to 
deny oneself and surrender one's will to God, — that is 
a far more fundamental and significant act. This idea 
of "others," is all through the life and ministry of our 
Lord. It is in the mystery of the atonement; it is 
woven throughout the warp and woof of the ordinances, 
baptism and communion of our Lord's Supper, but 
it has not yet won the hearts of the multitude who pro- 
fess Christianity. The thought of society today is not 
of "others" but of self, self, self. In every phase of 
life self obtrudes. Self dies hard when it dies at all. 
Self has a way of blinding and deluding us. Self- 
interests protest against absolute surrender to God's 
will; self chides us and whispers, "fanatic," "fool," 
"pietist"; self seeks to stifle us and smother into silence 
our attempt to say, "Thy will be done." 

Consecration is a word often on our lips but seldom 
observable in our lives in fullness and power. So- 
ciety knows the meaning of the word in part and 
within circles or groups, but not largely or richly. In- 
dividuals have taught us what consecration is, especially 
mothers who freely give their all for son or daughter. 
Here and there a great soul marches straight to Calvary 
for the sake of a mighty cause, but consecration for 
others in the large, in business, national and inter- 
national relations, has not yet captured the hearts of the 
world. Even at this late day a prominent captain of 
industry scoffs at the idea of the golden rule in busi- 
ness, or the teaching of the "Sermon on the Mount" 



THE CHAPTER OF CHAPTERS 51 

in politics. On the other hand there is a dynamic 
minority of wide influence who stand ready to bear 
witness to the law of "others" in every realm of so- 
ciety, willing to pay the fullest price, ready "to kiss 
the Cross." 

IV 

"that they all M4Y be one as thou, father, 

ART IN ME AND I IN THEE : THAT THEY MAY BE ONE IN 

us." Jesus is now praying for all the disciples that* 
are yet to be ; for the Church and its vast membership ; 
praying for the unity of all His followers in the closest 
possible spiritual unity, even as Christ is in the Father 
and the Father in Christ. To read these words and 
then to peruse church history, or merely to look about * 
us and behold the divided state of Christendom, is to 
experience the emotion of indignation, if not of despair. 
In America alone the Church is represented by one 
hundred and fifty denominations. The spectacle of 
controversies and bickerings and sectarian bigotry is 
mean and ugly when compared with the spirit of this 
intercessory prayer of our Lord. Let it be granted 
that this prayer is for spiritual unity; it is that, of 
course, but a spiritual unity should result in a visible* - 
unity, beautiful to behold, glorious to experience. It 
cannot mean uniformity of method; it does mean a 
unity of spiritual power and of faith and of fellowship 
that will reveal to the world a united and indivisible 
Church, powerful and triumphant. When the disciples 
of our Lord are united in Him even as "He and the 
Father are one," the world will not longer doubt the 
Divine mission of Jesus. The trouble is that thousands 



52 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

are united to human creeds, fettered t* antiquated the- 
ologies; are glorifying human leaders; enslaved to 
human traditions; and so yield an anaemic will and a 
divided heart to Christ. As long as we continue to 
glory in men, and delight to set one man over against 
another, glorying in one and anathematizing the other, 
divisions will continue. My brethren, is not the diffi- 
culty our meager spirituality ? We have everything ex- 
cept the power, for the power comes of the spirit. "If 
any man hath not the spirit of Christ he is none of 
His." The beginning of such a unity as Christ prayed t 
for is the union of the individual disciple with his Lord. 
This is not a doctrine; it is an experience. It is not 
something believed; it is something felt and known and 
demonstrated. 

Christian Unity, if it ever flower, must have its root- 
age in the life of the spirit, in the sweet soil of the 
soul. As the disciples tarried at Jerusalem for Pente- 
cost they experienced a unity that was potent for every 
good thing. It should be remembered that they were* 
united because they were prayerful. Their unity was 
the result of their prayers, not their prayer fulness of 
their unity. Uniformity may be realized without 
prayer, but never unity — which is a spiritual experience, 
not a form or method. 

At the close of this prayer Jesus uses a pregnant 
phrase; namely, "I in them." St. Paul employs a simi- 
lar phrase when he writes : "Christ in us the hope of 
glory." And still again, "I have been crucified with 
Christ; no longer do I live; but Christ lives in me." 
One of the foremost educators in England had a son 
who was slow-witted. His mind was strangely dulled 



THE CHAPTER OF CHAPTERS 53 

because of some jdisease of babyhood. The ordinary 
teachers failed with the boy; they could get nowhere 
with him. Then the father took charge — that great 
soul, whose mind was one of the best trained in all 
Europe, whose personality was rich and wholesome 
throughout. That strapping six- footed father some- 
how let himself right down into the inner life of that 
little slow-witted son. Very slowly, but steadily and 
wonderfully the mind of the boy began to expand. The 
father companied with him day after day. Slowly but 
surely the mind of the lad began to show extraordinary 
development. He commenced to lead his classes; he 
finished the lower schools with honor; lo! he went to 
Oxford and carried off the prize. The secret of his 
success was that his father became part of the very life 
of his son ; that in a strange, yet very practical, fashion, 
that father was himself and his son at the same time. 
If an earthly father can be himself and in his son at 
the same time, if an earthly father can be in his son 
in so wonderful a way, how much more can God be 
in His children with transforming power. 

It is with this thought "I in them" that Jesus con- 
cludes this memorable prayer, and this fact of Christ 
in us is the open and puissant secret of Christian power 
and victory. 



IV 

THREE TIMES A DAY 
A Plea for Fixed Seasons of Private Devotions 



Daniel 6:10. 

And when Daniel knew that the writing was 
signed, he went into his house (now his win- 
dows were open in his chamber toward Jeru- 
salem) ; and he kneeled upon his knees three 
times a day, and prayed, and gave tbanks be- 
fore his God, as he did aforetime. 



IV 

THREE TIMES A BAY 

The scene is Babylon, famed for her pomp, her 
wealth and prodigality. Babylon was a pagan city 
where pleasure ran riot and iniquity flourished. Liv- 
ing in Babylon and prominent there, but not of Baby- 
lon's worldly life, was a prophet of the most High God. 
Though of alien race and religion, this man, by sheer 
force of his ability, had been elevated to the high of- 
fice of Prime Minister. Naturally, Daniel became the 
target of a thousand jealousies and intrigues. His » 
enemies sought to discover some weakness in his life, 
some failure in probity wherein they might accuse him 
to the king. They sought diligently and found noth- 
ing. They concluded then that the only way in which 
this faithful servant of the king could be embarrassed 
and put out of office would be through interference with 
his religion. His enemies therefore cunningly devised 
a law and secured its approval by the king that whoever 
offered a petition to any God save King Darius would I 
be thrown into a den of lions. Such a law once passed 
in Babylon could not be repealed or modified; it was 
unalterable and had to be enforced. 

When Daniel knew that the writing was signed, it 
did not affect his way of life in the smallest particular.! 
He went into his house and his windows being open 
57 



58 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his 
knees three times a day, and prayed and gave thanks 
unto his God as he did before. Is it not a superb 
courage that leads a man to such a decision in the face 
of death itself? Is not a religion that will bear trans- 
planting under such conditions a tremendous factor in 
personal life and in society? But it is not my purpose 
to make the character of Daniel nor his fidelity to his 
faith amidst any and all circumstances my theme this 
morning, though these are inviting subjects and much 
needed by our times. Instead I want to turn to Daniel's 
habits of stated prayer as the inspiration for a sermon 
on the need and power of fixed seasons of private prayer 
in daily life. 

Three times a day in his own home and on his knees, 
with his windows open toward Jerusalem, Daniel 
prayed. Three times a day ! The Holy Scriptures are 
full of precepts and examples of prayer at certain 
periods of the day. In one of the Psalms we read: 
"My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord: 
in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee, and 
look up." In another: "Mine eyes prevent the night 
watches that I might meditate in Thy word." In still 
another : "I remember thee upon my bed and meditate 
upon Thee in the night watches." And again : "Even- 
ing, noon, and morning will I pray, and cry aloud ; and 
He shall hear my voice." Evening, noon, and morning 
for prayer to the Heavenly Father — three times a day ! 
Let us follow the order according to the Psalmist and 
begin with the — 



THREE TIMES A DAY 59 

EVENING 

Most people who pray at all pray in the evening or 
at night. The need of God's protection and the pres- 
ence of His brooding spirit is more apparent in dark- 
ness than in light. When the twilight deepens and the 
night enshrouds land and sea, doubts and fears hold 
carnival. In a "Sonnet To Night," pronounced by 
Coleridge the finest in the English language, Joseph 
Blanco White uses the impressive phrase "Mysterious 
Night" and then attempts to describe the emotions of 
primitive man when for the first time he saw the night 
envelop the earth. Yes, the night is full of mystery, 
of hidden peril and unknown evil. 

When one lies down to sleep he knows not but that 
the sleep of life may become the sleep of death. Thus, 
even in the prayer we teach the children is the phrase — 

If I should die before I wake 
I pray the Lord my soul to take. 

Yes, by all means there should be prayer at evening, 
after the day is done and the work ended. It is good 
to come to the Father then just as we are, and ere we 
seek rest in sleep to lay before Him the happenings 
of the day — defeats, victories, griefs, disappointments, 
joys, hopes, yearnings, all — and He who knoweth our 
frame will understand. Yes, prayer at evening for 
forgiveness, for cleansing of mind and heart, for rest 
in sleep — that gift of God which knits up the raveled 
sleeve of care, restores worn tissues, and revives droop- 
ing spirits. 

Prayer at evening becomes us all. It affords a 
unique opportunity to think God's thoughts after Him. 



60 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

Dr. Horace Bushnell confessed that he fell asleep 
every night while talking with God. Thus, too, a great 
German theologian and scholar was accustomed before 
going to bed to bow his head like a little child and say 
— "Thank God it is the same with us as it was before. 
Nothing has come between us ; Thou art my Father and 
I am Thy child." In like manner an aged woman, 
long a sturdy Believer and trustful Disciple of the 
Lord, repeated as she lay in bed, over and over again, 
"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is in me; 
bless His holy name." Thus quoting from the one 
hundred and third Psalm she would fall asleep, her 
room fragrant with the peace of God. The building 
of character does not cease with our waking hours. 
The mind is not entirely inactive, the thoughts that 
linger in the brain as sleep comes on are potent surely. 
Well it is for us to sink into slumber with the thought 
that the Great Shepherd is watching over us — that 
Shepherd of our souls who neither slumbers nor sleeps. 
The insomnia of God is a blessed truth, and the thought 
of it may help bring blessed peace to wearied eyes, rest 
to worn and shattered nerves, sleep to a distraught and 
uneasy mind. 

NOON 

The Psalmist affirmed that he would pray at the 
noon hour, and for most of us that is an unusual 
prayer season. It is a time when the vigor and light 
of the sun is at its zenith. The whole world seems 
throbbingly alive at noon-day, and yet it is a period 
of pause and a time of refreshment and relaxation. In 
the country the dinner bell summons the farmer from 



THREE TIMES A DAY 61 

the field and there is a brief span of rest for man and 
beast. In the great cities, shops, factory and office 
buildings pour forth their flood of human-kind at the 
noon hour. The cafes^ the restaurants, the hotels are 
rilled with people eating and drinking ; the children are 
home from school; it is a time of sociability and a 
period of release from the exactions of duties and 
responsibilities. 

Few people pray at noontide. There seems to be less 
need of it than at any other time. If the sun be shin- 
ing, his rays are never so garish as at the noon hour. 
The world is bathed in sunshine and light. Perhaps 
we feel freer from need of Divine help and more ready 
to abandon ourselves to relaxation at the noon hour 
than at any other period of the day. But one needs 
God and a realization of His presence then as well as 
at other times. "We stumble at noon-day as in the 
twilight,' ' acknowledged Isaiah. A few moments of 
private devotion at noon, the bowing of the head while 
sitting at the desk or standing at an open window, look- 
ing out over the roofs of nearby buildings, or if it be 
in the country, gazing upon the quiet field, the wood- 
lands or the mountains. In such a manner may one en- 
joy the privilege of prayer at noontide. 

It has been suggested that noon is the best of all 
times to pray for the world, and in this connection it 
has been said that when it is noon in Britain the largest 
portion of the earth is in light; that when it is twelve 
o'clock in London it is eight o'clock in the evening in 
China, and it is four o'clock in the morning on the 
Pacific Coast of America. Precisely what o'clock it 
may be elsewhere when it is midday here, I do not know, 



62 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

save that it surely is midnight somewhere for millions 
of God's children. How fitting a period to pray for 
the peoples of all Nations, and particularly the mis- 
sionaries in China, in Japan, in Tibet, in India, in the 
Philippines, in the Islands of the Sea, at noon. How 
blessed to remember the missionaries of the Cross — 
men, women and little children — at the noon hour. At 
high noon the hands on the clocks point straight up- 
ward. Time, too, to look up and pray to the Father 
of us all. 

MORNING 

Prayer at the beginning of the day is peculiarly fit- 
ting. Alas! of the great host of people who pray in 
the evening, but few keep the morning watch. We 
feel the need of prayer at night, and pray accordingly, 
but in the morning, with light streaming all about us, 
the need seems not so great. Alas, millions begin the 
day prayerlessly. Now of all hours of day or night 
the morning provides the most radiant of seasons for 
communion with God. If there be mystery in the dark- 
ness of the night, there is poetry in the glow and glory 
of the morning. In the early hours of the day the 
world seems fresh from the Creator's hands — the silent 
ministry of the dew is moist on grass and flower and 
tree. A sunrise is never commonplace. In spring- 
time or early fall, or oh a clear day in winter, the 
rising of the sun is a spectacle of wonder and beauty. 
Lo! the first faint flushes of the eastern sky, the clear 
notes of bird songs, soft breezes stirring in the branches 
of the trees, and then the sun lifts himself above the 
horizon like a great globe of fire, and earth and sky 



THREE TIMES A DAY 63 

are flooded with a golden glow. Little wonder the 
maiden in Browning's famous poem sings with ecstasy 
of sheer delight just to be living — 

The year's at the spring, 
And day's at the morn; 
Morning's at seven, 
The hill-side's dew-pearled; 
The lark's on the wing, 
The snail's on the thorn: 
God's in His heaven — 
All's right with the world! 

With the dawn of a new day comes the necessity 
for a walk of faith. Who knows what a day may bring 
forth? It may bring grief and sorrow, disappoint- 
ment and defeat. It may offer gifts of victory and a 
sense of elation. It may bring new friendships or pos- 
sibilities that can mar or break old friendships! It 
may be cloudless or stormy, wind-swept or tornado- 
torn, we cannot know in advance. Therefore we need 
to begin the day with prayer. The morning has been 
the favorite prayer-period for most of the great saints 
of God. Robert Murray McCheyne, one of Scotland's 
most gifted preachers, says : "I ought to spend the best 
hours in communion with God. It is my noblest and 
most fruitful employment and is not to be thrust into 
a corner. The morning hours of six to eight are the 
most uninterrupted." Dr. Judson began each day 
with a period of private devotions with the Father, and 
gave it as his conviction that "Thou canst leisurely de- 
vote two or three hours every day to secret prayer 
and communion with God." David said : "Early will 
I seek Thee." Christ arose before day and went into 
a solitary place. David Brainerd, missionary to the 



(64 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

Indians, found no day satisfying that did not begin 
with prayer to God. Martin Luther said : "If I fail 
to spend two hours in prayer in the morning, the devil 
gets the victory through the day." G. Campbell Mor- 
gan is well-known in America. He is an expository 
preacher par excellence. His books are numerous and 
widely read. He preaches with power and with unction 
always. What is the secret of his power ? It is this : 
For more than a quarter of a century he has spent 
two hours every morning in prayer and with no other 
book within reach except the Holy Scriptures. Alex- 
ander MacLaren who was one of England's greatest 
of preachers, a strong soul, a prophet of the Almighty, 
kept the quiet hour every morning from nine until 
ten, and in the solitude of that silence some of his 
greatest sermons had their birth. There used to be a 
celebrated statesman in England who held the post 
of cabinet minister through a time of stress and great 
anxiety. This man, more than all the others, was 
calm, unhurried, possessed, and resourceful. The 
Prime Minister of that day applied to this cabinet 
minister an unusual name. He called him "the central 
calm." He called him this name because the states- 
man's calmness made him the center of the cabinet 
meeting. To him the others turned in anxious mo- 
ments. What gave him calm and peace and power? 
The statesman's wife made known the secret. She 
explained that her husband never began a day, however 
late he was obliged to be up, without a quiet hour with 
God and the Holy Scriptures. Verily he had meat to 
eat that his fellow cabinet officers knew not of. 

A "central calm." Is not that what the world needs 



THREE TIMES A DAY 65 

in this feverish and chaotic generation? A central 
calm at Washington, at London, at Tokio, at Paris — 
yea, a central calm in every capital in the world. A 
central calm in state, in church, in business, industry, 
and above all else a central calm in every home; a 
realization of the presence of Almighty God and a will- 
ingness to receive the fullness of His power. 

' 'Evening, noon, and morning," exclaimed the Psalm- 
ist, "will I pray." Would that we too could say as 
much. Our need, our greatest need in this hour, as in 
all other hours, is prayer. The greatest thing a man 
or woman can do is to pray. Why ? Because by pray- 
ing we open up a channel for God's power; we throw 
ourselves into spiritual gear, so to speak. God fills us 
and uses us mightily. There must be habitual prayer 
if there be spiritual health. How shall we be able to 
meet the awful problems of our day; how can we live 
and move and have our being midst "change and de- 
cay" without this communion with God? We may 
exist, but we cannot really live without it. Three times 
a day ! Is this too often to go to God in personal and 
private prayer? Not merely three formal periods in 
which to pray mechanically or professionally, but fixed 
seasons of the day for real prayer, quiet moments and 
fruitful moments with our Lord. When we have 
learned to keep these seasons inviolate, nothing can 
possibly occur that will throw us off our guard, put us 
to shame, or really defeat us. God will provide a way 
when none is in sight; God will meet our weakness 
with His own strength; God will atmosphere us with 
poise and victory and make all things beautiful in His 
time. 



66 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

There is a little book much heralded these days — it 
is entitled 'The Daily Dozen" and it is a manual of the 
simplest kind of physical exercise. Walter Camp, the 
famous athlete, is the author. It contains twelve ele- 
mental bodily movements designed to develop muscles 
little used and to build the body up, if regularly fol- 
lowed. These exercises are not beneficial if done 
merely occasionally or spasmodically, but when they are 
daily used they impart to the body not only suppleness 
and grace, but they also fortify it against the inroads 
of disease. Tens of thousands of men and women the 
country over are following faithfully the instructions 
in the little book and thereby increasing their physical 
vigor. 

This is all very well. Bodily exercise profits a great 
deal, and a well set-up and smooth-running physical 
system is a sturdy aid in the battle of life. It is easy 
to forget that the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. 
But alas and alack ! — how few exercise the prayer fac- 
ulty. How anaemic and impoverished and feeble is 
the prayer life of the average church member. The 
prayerlessness of the Church is the greatest tragedy of 
this generation. It is deadening and defeatening. O ! 
for ten thousand times ten thousand who are willing 
three times a day to pray with the windows of their 
soul opened toward the God of Jesus Christ. Given 
such seasons of spiritual refreshment and Almighty 
God will bear His arm and shake the community for 
righteousness, for justice, for newness of life, and the 
consequent redemption of city, town and county. 

Prayer at evening? — Yes! Prayer at noon? — Yes! 
Prayer in the morning? — A thunderous YES! 



A GOD WHO WILL NOT LET US GO 

Some Reflections on the Marvel of the Divine 
Pursuit 



Psalm 139:1-12. 

O Jehovah, thou hast searched me, and 
known me. Thou knowest my downsitting 
and mine uprising; thou understandest my 
thought afar off. 

Thou searchest out my path and my lying 
down, and art acquainted with all my ways. 

For there is not a word in my tongue, but, 
lo, O Jehovah, thou knowest it altogether. 

Thou hast beset me behind and before, and 
laid thine hand upon me. 

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it 
is high, I cannot attain unto it. 

Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? or 
whither shall I flee from thy presence? 

If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there; 
if I make my bed in sheol, behold, Thou art 
there. 

If I take the wings of the morning, and 
dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; 

Even there shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy 
right hand shall hold me. 

If I say, Surely the darkness shall over- 
whelm me, and the light about me shall be 
night : 

Even the darkness hideth not from Thee, 
but the night shineth as the day : the darkness 
and the light are both alike to Thee. 



A GOD WHO WILL NOT LET US GO 

In the opinion of many devout students of the Scrip- 
tures, the one hundred and thirty-ninth is the noblest 
utterance of all the Psalms. A great Scottish theo- 
logian said, "This is the Psalm which I should wish 
to have with me on my death-bed." Why should a 
dying man prefer the one hundred and thirty-ninth 
Psalm to the tenderer and more familiar portions of 
the Psalter? This Psalm lacks the pastoral beauty of 
the twenty-third; the brilliant didactic qualities of the 
nineteenth; the mournful cadence of the ninetieth; the 
plaintive tenderness of the one hundred and third; but 
it is loftier and more majestic in thought than any one 
of these or all four. The author is in an exalted mood ; 
he senses God everywhere; he conceives of man as be- 
set by God on every side and pursued by his all-pervad- 
ing presence. Thus, upon reflection, it is seen that this 
is a fitting passage of Scripture for one to read as he 
faces some impending and unknown vicissitude or, 
awaits "the great teacher — death." For the Psalmist 
is sure not only that God is, but also that He is pur- 
suing him persistently and not in anger but in love. 

The exalted mood of the Psalmist in this 139th 
composition is worthy of comment. He finds God 
everywhere. He finds him at once and without difri- 
69 



70 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

culty. How different his mood from that of Job who, 
in an experience of depression and doubt exclaimed, "O, 
that I knew where I might find Him; that I might 
even come to His seat." Human moods are variable 
always ; like tides of the sea they rise and fall. Some- 
times God seems nearby; so sure we are of His pres- 
ence that we uncover and bow the head; again we 
glimpse Him faintly as across some vast area or fail to 
see Him at all. 

Mark Twain has left an account of a camping experi- 
ence in the Maine woods, when Horace Bushnell — 
the distinguished Christian scholar — was a member of 
the party. The humorist described the first night they 
slept in God's great out-of-doors, and particularly the 
prayer that Bushnell offered before they fell asleep. It 
must have been a remarkable prayer for it made the 
company of campers realize the presence of the Divine. 
Mark Twain was deeply impressed, and commenting on 
the incident years afterwards, said, "God seemed so 
near that I fancied I could reach out anywhere that 
night and touch Him." But when the famous author 
was bereft of his devoted wife and a lovely daughter, 
the darkness was thick about him and he sensed God 
nowhere. Nor is there anything more pathetic than his 
confessedly faint sense of the Divine presence as he 
himself entered the valley of the shadow. The exalted 
moods of life should be used to the fullest. They are 
given us for a great purpose. By the mountain-top 
experiences we should shape our lives and not by those 
of the valley of doubt and gloom. Such elation of the 
Spirit as is expressed in this Psalm is a tonic for the 
soul ; and as cold water is to thirsty travelers, so these 



A GOD WHO WILL NOT LET US GO 71 

great affirmations of God's everywhereness soothe and 
comfort the weary heart. But these are general com- 
ments and it may be well to observe more particularly 
the teachings of this notable Scripture and the lofty 
conception of a God whose presence fills the world and 
thrills the Psalmist's soul. It is interesting to look at 
these verses one by one. 

"O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me." 
Could anything be more thorough-going ? God knows 
us completely. "He knoweth our frame, He remem- 
bereth we are dust." Not only so, but He knows us 
because He has "searched" us. "Searched" is a strong ' 
word. It means to "dig deep." It has the idea of 
minute investigation and of closest scrutiny. Here is 
knowledge too wonderful for us. We think we know 
each other, but we are mistaken. Intimate friends and 
kinspeople know one another but partly. God knows 
us altogether and wholly. The mind of the Psalmist 
is flooded with this truth and he proceeds to expand 
upon it in various ways. 

"Thou knowest my downsittings and mine upris- 
ings." These are interesting words. They are com- 
parable with another phrase made familiar by much 
Bible usage; namely, "Our going out and coming 
in." It may be by the use of the terms "downsittings" 
and "uprisings" the psalmist has reference to our 
stumbling and falling, our blunders and failures, and 
our consequent rising to begin all over again. God 
knows our modes of life, whether of action or of re- 
pose, our sleeping and our waking hours. Yea, what- 
ever the day or the night may bring, our heavenly 



72 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

Father knows. The God of Israel neither slumbers 
nor sleeps. 

"Thou compassest or winnowest my path . . . and 
art acquainted with all my ways." This is a stronger 
statement yet. It implies a still closer and more accu- 
rate knowledge on God's part. The Psalmist avers 
that God "winnowest" the way that we go. That is 
an eloquent term. As the old time farmer used to 
winnow the grain, thus separating the chaff from the 
wheat, so to the Psalmist's mind God sifts out or win- 
nows our paths ; the way that we go is God encircled 
if we only knew it. We may forget Him, He forgets 
us never. He knoweth the way we take. 

"For there is not a word in my tongue, but lo, O 
Lord, Thou knowest it altogether." The Psalmist 
could not have phrased the knowledge of God more 
strongly than this. Even before we frame the word 
He has knowledge of the thought that lies back of the 
speech. Verily we every one have need to pray — 
"Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of 
my heart find acceptance in Thy sight, O Lord, our 
strength and our Redeemer." 

"Thou hast beset me behind and before and laid 
thine hand upon me." Ours is a besetting God. The 
word "beset" has fallen into an unfavorable meaning. 
We speak of "besetting sins" ; why not speak of a be- 
setting God, a God who besets us before and behind 
and lays His hand upon us. The idea is not that of a 
heavy hand, but of a fatherly and compassionate pres- 
sure. It is the hand of love and of mercy and of long 
suffering. It is a precious thought; a beautiful figure; 
a paternal picture. 



A GOB WHO WILL NOT LET US GO 73 

From these exalted thoughts of God's presence and 
knowledge the Psalmist proceeds still further. He 
maintains that it is impossible to escape the Divine 
Spirit ; that no man can flee from the presence of God. 
If he ascends into heaven or makes his bed in the 
grave, lo, God is there. If he takes the wings of the 
morning and flies to the uttermost parts of the earth, 
God pursues him. Darkness and light are alike unto 
Him. Everywhere and all the time he perceived God 
pursues His children, and in manifold ways. Surely 
this is a Psalm extraordinary. The spirit of God is 
contemplated as boundless and represents man as at- 
tempting to escape from God and failing The poets 
have occasionally made this thought the theme of their 
verses, and none more dramatically than Francis 
Thompson in his strangely haunting poem entitled, 
"The Hound of Heaven. " In verses once read that 
can never be forgotten, the poet describes the Divine 
presence pursuing him persistently, through every vicis- 
situde, and undefeated by his efforts to elude Him at 
last triumphantly possesses the pursued who acknowl- 
edges Him as his all in all. 

I fled Him, down the nights and down the days; 

I fled Him, down the arches of the years ; 
I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways 

Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears 
I hid from Him, and under running laughter. 

Up vistaed hopes I sped; 

And shot, precipitated, 
Adown Titanic glooms of chasmed fears 
From those strong feet that followed, followed after 

But with unhurrying chase, 

And unperturbed pace, 



74 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

Deliberate speed, majestic instancy, 

They beat — and a voice beat 

More instant than the feet — 
"All things betray thee, who betrayest Me" 

...•••■ 

Halts by me that footfall: 

Is my gloom, after all, 
Shade of His hand, outstretched caressingly? 

"Ah, fondest, blindest, weakest, 
I am He Whom thou seekest ! 
Thou dravest love from these, who dravest Me." 

The unique quality of the one hundred and thirty- 
ninth Psalm is that it exalts a conception of God not 
common throughout the Old Testament. The devout 
Israelite for the most part worshiped God as some 
awful and distant Deity. He thought of Jehovah more 
often as a Judge and King than a Father. He bowed 
before a Magistrate and a Monarch. He conceived of 
worship in particular localities and was given to rev- 
erence for Holy places. He thought of Jehovah as 
the God of the Jewish people only. Thus the idea of 
God in many portions of the Old Testament is a cir- 
cumscribed and narrow conception. In the one hun- 
dred and thirty-ninth Psalm, however, the author per- 
ceives the presence of God as filling the universe, and 
more, he sees man striving to flee from Him, seeking to 
hide from Him and all in vain. God is inevitable, un- 
avoidable, unescapable. In all verity he is a God that 
will not let us go. 

This is a profound conception of Deity — this thought 
of the Divine Spirit searching out the hearts of men 
and filling all the universe and pursuing man ever and 
always. But to some it may be, and frequently is, 
vague, intangible and impersonal. There is an aloof- 
ness about the idea and a mysticism in it that does not 



A GOD WHO WILL NOT LET US GO 75 

satisfy the hearts of all humanity. I think of the little 
girl who had been put to bed and left alone in the dark 
in a room upstairs. The other members of the family 
were down stairs immediately under the child's bed- 
room and were laughing and talking. By and by they 
heard the child crying. The mother went to the room, 
knelt by the bed, put her arms around the little girl 
and asked her the trouble. "I was afraid of the dark," 
the little girl sobbed. "The dark won't hurt you, dear, 
God is here," comforted the mother. Then the crying 
broke out afresh and between sobs the little girl an- 
swered: "Yes — I know — God's here — but — I — want 
— someone — with — a — face." Pathetic words and yet 
ever so natural. Yes, we want someone with a face, 
with eyes to see and ears to hear, with voice to speak, 
with ministering hands, with beating heart — for such 
a companion and comforter does humanity still cry 
and God has heard and answered that cry. 

Long, long ago in an upper room in Jerusalem a. 
very strong and radiant personality — a companion, 
friend and teacher announced to the group who had 
been with Him for nearly three years that He was 
going away; that He was obliged to leave them. He 
spoke to them of a home where there were many man- 
sions; informed them that He was going to prepare 
a place for them, and assured them that He would come 
again. He also said that He was the way, the truth, 
and the light, and that no man could come unto the 
Father but by Him. The little company were sad and 
filled with a nameless dread of approaching disaster. 
One of that group named Philip asked the great com- 
panion a question : "Lord, show us the Father and it 
sufficeth us." Tell us about God, explain Him to us. 



76 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

He seems so far away. We cannot see Him or hear 
Him, or know Him, but we want to know Him. Show 
us the Father and it will satisfy us, as nothing else 
can satisfy us." 

The world-cry of Philip was answered by Jesus, and 
surpassingly great is the answer : "Have I been so long 
time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip ? 
He that has seen Me has seen the Father." Yes, this is 
the answer : "God having spoken at sundry times and 
divers manners hath in these latter days spoken unto 
us by His Son." It is well to range the one hundred 
and thirty-ninth Psalm alongside the fourteenth chap- 
ter of John. The Psalmist in a measure anticipates the 
revelation of God in Christ. The mystery of the In- 
carnation is the mystery of God seeking His children, 
pursuing them constantly and persistently with His 
everlasting love. Behold the heavenly Father seeking 
His children in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. 
This exalted teaching of the Psalmist is illustrated and 
amplified in a most countless way in the teaching of the 
Christ. Jesus taught that the very hairs of our heads 
are numbered; that not a sparrow falls without God's 
knowledge. Such teaching is akin to that of this Psalm, 
only fuller and more intimate. 

His parables of the shepherd seeking his sheep; the 
woman searching for the coin; of forgiving one's ene- 
mies seventy times seven ; of going the second mile, — 
all these figures, incidents, ideals, are but outcroppings 
of this idea of God as seeking, pursuing, following His 
creatures, never abandoning them, but always and ever, 
in the pursuit Divine. 



A GOD WHO WILL NOT LET US GO 77 

Jesus Himself was the incarnation of the Divine 
Pursuer. He was the "sent one." He explained His 
nission as a coming to seek and to save the lost. The 
church — His body — is a medium of the spirit seeking 
:o win men for the new life as heirs of Jesus Christ, 
md members of the family of God. Perhaps the lof- 
iest explanation given by any New Testament writer 
}f the purpose of God in Jesus is that of Paul when he 
jays, "God was in Christ reconciling the world to 
Himself." 

In the light of this Psalm and the trend of Biblical 
:eaching, much in our theology needs revision. We 
:alk and pray and sing as though God were reluctant 
:o bless us; as if He were so busily engaged else- 
where in His boundless universe as to necessitate our 
mtreaty and supplication to make Him aware of our 
leed and distress. We forget, if, indeed, it has oc- 
curred to us, that we are the objects of His pursuit, 
His love, His wisdom, His knowledge. We are seek- 
ng to illude Him, sometimes unconsciously, sometimes 
villfully. What means this restlessness, this wistful 
reaming of the multitude for pleasure, for recreation, 
ior change ? What is the reason for this mad scramble 
tor possession, position and fame? Is it not because 
*reat hosts of men and women are seeking to escape 
\lmighty God; fearing to surrender to the Divine 
Will lest some darling sin must be abandoned; skepti- 
cal that spiritual riches are comparable with material 
vealth? O ! the wonder of the God who will not let us 
£0, the God who was in Christ reconciling the world to 
Himself. We forget Him; we abandon ourselves to a 
vay of life that is Godless, but He never forgets, never 



78 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

abandons, never ceases to pursue us. And God pur- 
sues us in ways that are diverse and totally unlike. He 
speaks to us by the still small voice of conscience, and 
if we refuse to listen he speaks to us in the thunder of 
some event in our lives that shakes us to thef oundation. 
The Divine Spirit reaches us sometimes through the 
counsel and faith of the aged and the afflicted; some- 
times by the hand of a little child ; sometimes the Spirit 
pursues us by the medium of a dear friend or of a 
beloved kinsman; possibly through the ministry of an 
entire stranger. Yes, God seeks us and follows after 
us, using a hundred different tokens; sometimes He 
uses the seasons, the loveliness of spring, the mellow 
splendor of summer, the glory of mid-autumn, the 
wonder of wintertime, the stars by night and the 
radiant sun by day; through roses, hollyhocks and 
lilies; through books, pictures, music — through and by 
all these agencies, and still on and on that love that 
will not let us go follows us, refuses to be baffled, 
claims us unceasingly. 

When we think of God in this light, which is the 
light all aglow on the mountain peaks of Old Testa- 
ment teaching, and the great Light in Jesus Christ, we 
are humbled and made to tremble, not with fear but 
with the deepest joy. For this is the greatest love of 
earth and heaven — the Love that will not, can not, let 
us go. 

That Voice is round me like a bursting sea : 

And is thy earth so marred, 

Shattered in shard on shard? 

Lo, all things fly thee, for thou fliest Me. 

Rise, clasp my hand, and come ! 



VI 

THE MANTLE OF ELIJAH 

How God Schools His Prophets and Provides for 
Their Successors 



i7 Kings 2:13-14-15. 

And he took up also the mantle of Elijah 
that fell from him, and went back, and stood 
by the bank of the Jordan. And he took the 
mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote 
the waters, and said, Where is Jehovah, the 
God of Elijah? And when he also had smit- 
ten the waters, they were divided hither and 
thither ; and Elisha went over. And when the 
sons of the prophets that were at Jericho over 
against him saw him, they said, the spirit of 
Elijah doth rest on Elisha. 



VI 

THE MANTLE OF ELIJAH 

The second chapter of II Kings is pervaded with 
what Sir Robertson Nicoll calls "The sweet and awful 
sadness of the valley of the shadow." Elijah, the re- 
nowned Prophet of Israel, was nearing the end of his 
life. Elisha, a younger man, and his disciple, was 
aware that the time of separation was at hand. As 
the hour approached for his home going, Elijah made 
no secret of his preference to be left alone. He first 
suggested to Elisha that he tarry at Gilgal, then at 
Bethel, and again at Jericho. But in each instance 
his companion declared — "As the Lord liveth and as 
thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee." At Jericho a 
company of young men known as "The sons of the pro- 
phets," anxiously awaited the coming of Elijah, for 
they too knew a crisis was impending. They would 
have liked to accompany him, but the privilege granted 
to Elisha was not theirs. Fifty of their number fol- 
lowed the two prophets as far as they might and then 
sorrowfully stood and watched them until they were 
lost from view. 

Master and pupil crossed the Jordan as by dry land, 

and when they had passed over, Elijah said to his 

companion, "Ask what I shall do for thee before I am 

taken from thee." That was a great question, and 

81 



82 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

right greatly the younger man answered, "I pray thee 
let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me." There 
was humility in that request. Elisha, fronting so great 
a crisis, felt himself unequal to continue the work of 
Elijah, except he possessed a double equipment of his 
spiritual power. The old prophet replied, "Thou hast 
asked a hard thing; nevertheless, if thou see me when 
I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee. ,, And 
lo ! while the two men were conversing, there appeared 
a chariot of fire and horses of fire, which parted them 
asunder, and Elijah was taken up into heaven by a 
whirlwind. 

Beholding the spectacle, and deeply impressed there- 
by, Elisha cried, "My father, my father, the chariots 
of Israel and the horsemen thereof.'' A strange and 
interesting exclamation is this by which it may be 
supposed that Elisha believed Elijah to be as great a 
defense to the Israelitish Nation as an army ready 
for battle, and such he was. 

How long Elisha stood gazing into the sky attempt- 
ing to catch a further glimpse of his great companion 
and teacher, we do not know. The Scripture solemnly 
says, "He saw him no more." Alas ! the hour cometh 
to us all, when those upon whom we lean, our teach- 
ers and our mainstays, must be taken, leaving us to 
get our bearings as best we can, and carry on the un- 
finished task. Elisha, after a custom of his day, and 
in token of his grief, rent his garment into two pieces. 
Then observing the mantle of Elijah lying on the 
ground nearby, he took it up, and lo, when he smote 
the water of the Jordan with the mantle of Jehovah, 



THE MANTLE OF ELIJAH 83 

they divided hither and thither, even as they had done 
for Elijah. 

god's law of succession is demonstrated in 
this dramatic old testament incident 

God calls one worker from his post of duty only 
to summon another to take his place. "The King is 
dead; long live the King," is more than an ancient 
custom, it is a token of the divine law of succession. 
When a particularly useful person dies or is called from 
one field of activity to another, we are filled with a great 
fear lest the work not only suffer but cease altogether. 
We forget that no individual is wholly indispensable 
and that however able he was, the day will dawn when 
he must give place to another. The world goes for- 
ward after the fashion of a gigantic relay race. 
"Others have labored and ye have entered into their 
labors/' is a truth which admits of wide application. 

,r Tis weary watching day by day, 
And yet the tide heaves onward; 
We build like corals grave on grave 
But pave a path that's sunward. 

This process is not only inevitable, it is also wise 
and beneficent. Emerson's noble words in his "Com- 
pensation" are to the point. 

"We cannot part with our friends. We cannot let 
our angels go. We do not see that they only go out 
that archangels may come in. We are idolaters of the 
old. We do not believe in the riches of the soul, in its 
proper eternity and omnipresence. We do not believe 
there is any force in today to rival or recreate that 



84 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

beautiful yesterday. We linger in the ruins of the 
old tent, where once we had bread and shelter and 
organs, nor believe that the spirit can feed, cover, and 
nerve us again. We cannot again find aught so dear, 
so sweet, so graceful. But we sit and weep in vain. 
The voice of the Almighty saith, 'Up and onward 
for evermore!' We cannot stay amid the ruins. 
Neither will we rely on the new; and so we walk ever 
with reverted eyes, like those monsters who look back- 
wards." 

The infinite variety of personality gives color and 
substance to history; supplies vine and rock to society. 
One Grand Canyon is enough for a Continent; one 
Elijah for a generation ; one Jesus Christ for all times. 
But thousands of ravines and valleys compose the 
earth ; millions of ruggedly honest men supply the salt 
of society, and a host who possess the Lord Christ's 
heart furnish light for the world. 

That God has ready always a great leader when 
the fullness of time has come, is a familiar saying and 
true. Stephen, the young Christian martyr , t was cut 
off in his glorious prime, but there stood by witnessing 
his death, and profoundly influenced by it, a Saul of 
Tarsus who would take the wondrous story to the 
uttermost parts of the earth. Dr. Livingstone died 
in the heart of Africa; died on his knees in prayer, 
prematurely old and broken, his labors apparently 
ended, but when the story of his heroic career was 
given to the world, thousands were moved to follow 
in his steps. When Major McKinley, the gentle and 
urbane, died by the hand of an assassin, and was suc- 
ceeded by a man scarcely past middle life and of a 



THE MANTLE OF ELIJAH 85 

bold impetuous spirit, the Nation almost held its breath 
for apprehension. And lo ! Colonel Roosevelt brought 
to the presidency the very qualities that were most 
needed for that hour, and once again the law of suc- 
cession was justified by its work. 

It is a common heresy that we speak and act as 
though God was once active in the affairs of men, but 
had withdrawn His spirit from the world, leaving us 
to blunder along as best we can, dependent solely upon 
human ingenuity and wisdom. That was a wise word 
spoken by Garfield from the balcony of a New York 
hotel to the vast throng that filled the street, and 
seemed utterly dazed by the news of Lincoln's death. 
Quoting first from the ninety-seventh Psalm, that man 
of sturdy faith said : "God reigns and the Government 
at Washington still lives.' , The people were in danger 
of forgetting that the God of Lincoln was still active 
and sovereign over all. The history of religious con- 
troversy centers around human leadership and the spirit 
of partyism. In the Corinthian Church partyism had 
its birth, through the glorying in men, rather than in 
God* The apostle rebuked the tendency sharply. 
"Wherefore let no one glory in men/' he said, "For 
all things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or 
Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present 
or things to come; all are yours; and ye are Christ's, 
and Christ is God's." How different the history of 
Christianity would be written if this advice had always 
been followed. God has not exhausted Himself in 
His revelation of truth to any man, or to all men. 
Give each teacher his just dues, but do not set Elisha 
over against Elijah; Mary against Martha; Peter 



86 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

against Paul; Calvin against Wesley; General Booth 
against Bishop Brooks. Accept every teacher for what 
truth he has to offer and know that God will raise up 
other teachers and thereby cause increasing light to 
flood the great issues of life and death. 

god's method of succession is seen in this old 
testament episode 

God uses prepared men to continue the work laid 
down by their predecessors. Elijah's mantle did not 
accidentally fall upon Elisha. The younger man had 
been schooled under the older, and was the beneficiary 
of his companionship and counsel. Elijah called 
Elisha from the field where the young man was plow- 
ing. He cast his mantle upon him at that time as a 
symbol of his succession, and the young plowman from 
that day became Elijah's companion. It was after this 
calling of Elisha that some of the deepest experiences 
of Elijah's career took place. The wrong done Naboth 
by King Ahab, and the prophet's fiery denunciation of 
the King occurred after his choice of Elisha. During 
those full and eventful days we have no record of 
Elisha, but we rightfully assume that for much of the 
time he was with the great prophet and learning of him. 
In one place the Scriptures refer to Elisha as "The son 
of Shaphat, who poured water on the hands of Elijah." 
Yes, he was a servant of Elijah, but more than a serv- 
ant. Gehazi was a servant of Elisha, but never more 
than a servant. Propinquity to a great man cannot of 
itself make a prophet, but given the essential quality 
of mind and affections, and propinquity may be fruitful 
exceedingly. 



THE MANTLE OF ELIJAH 87 

It is important that we observe the human factor in 
the Divine law of succession, and the responsibility 
thereof. One way that God raises up successors to 
great leaders is through the training of successors by 
the leaders themselves. Moses had his Joshua; Elijah 
his Elisha;, Jesus His twelve apostles; St. Paul his 
Timothy; D. L. Moody his Henry Drummond; Fran- 
cis E. Clark his Daniel Poling. Who have we in 
training to receive the standard from our trembling 
hands and carry it on in a steadier grasp? Here is a 
responsibility we are slow to acknowledge in matters 
spiritual. In business this responsibility is widely rec- 
ognized and freely accepted. Most fathers recognize 
it and are not unfaithful to their duty. They look for- 
ward to the day when their sons shall succeed them in 
business or profession, and to prepare them, for this is 
a thing of pride and joy. Most mothers are ambitious 
thatj their daughters shall succeed them in social and 
domestic life, and spare no pains to train them to be- 
come ideal hostesses. It is scarcely necessary to ad- 
vise parents to train their children for society and busi- 
ness; they will see to that. But, alas! how few are 
concerned with preparing the oncoming generation for 
Spiritual service. And yet there can be no adequately 
trained Elishas except there be Elijahs willing to choose 
and discipline their disciples. 

The greatest popular pastime in America is baseball. 
Prodigious sums of money are represented in this 
amusement which annually draws a patronage running 
into many millions. In order that worthy successors 
may be found for the famous players who command 
fabulous sums for their services, a nation-wide search 



88 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

is carried on annually under carefully trained scouts. 
No village is considered too small, or community too 
remote for these men to visit, if there is possible ma- 
terial for a great catcher, pitcher, fielder or baseman. 

What of the Church and succession in its leaderships 
for the ministry, the mission field, the Christian col- 
lege, the local congregation? The solemn truth is that 
the paucity of available material is pathetic and wholly 
alarming. The average nowadays Christian home is 
not only indifferent ta this need but sometimes even 
hostile to son or daughter preparing for such a career. 
Time was when the fondest hope of a God-fearing 
parent was to give a son to the ministry of the Word. 
The present generation, however, is receiving small 
encouragement toward any definite religious life. The 
prophet in religion has given way to the promoter, and 
the lure of the material has blinded the eyes of young 
and old to spiritual gifts. 

Men and women who love the Church of the living 
God — whom have you in training to receive your 
mantle ? Honored parents of Christian ideals — are you 
raising up sons and daughters who can be counted upon 
to serve and sacrifice for the Kingdom of Heaven? 
Teachers, and workers in the Sunday school, — have you 
inspired among your pupils those who will continue 
your labors when you are called higher ? Office bearers, 
— are you consciously and constructively shaping the 
lives of the young people to follow your footsteps, to 
assume responsibility, and accept posts of duty? Min- 
ister of the Word, — do you know definitely that among 
the young men and women of your congregation there 
are those who are preparing for service in home or for- 



THE MANTLE OF ELIJAH 89 

eign field as ambassadors of Jesus Christ? Upon the 
kind of an answer present-day leaders make to these 
questions impend issues of immeasurable worth. The 
mantle of Elijah awaits an Elisha, Elijah-trained. 

god's law of succession is a distinct challenge 
to the individual 

Elijah's mantle did not fall directly on the shoulders 
of Elisha, it fluttered to the ground a little distance 
apart. It was necessary for him to take the mantle 
up, by that token he showed the mettle of his manhood. 
The mantle of leadership does not drop mysteriously 
from the sky and gracefully entwine itself about the 
shoulders of the chosen one. Men who scheme to step 
into other men's shoes are doomed to wear their own, 
however bad their state of repair. Leaders are usually 
called to new opportunities of leadership when they 
are so busily preoccupied with their work that they have 
no time to be casting covetous glances toward some 
other position. Elijah chose Elisha, that is half the 
successorship ; Elisha served a faithful apprenticeship, 
and when his master's mantle fell to earth he took it 
up — that is the other half. 

Society* has yet to know a surplus of real leaders, 
trained workers are always at a premium. It may not 
be always true that the world will beat a path through 
the woods to the home of the man who writes a better 
book, makes a better mouse trap, or preaches a better 
sermon than his neighbor, but ninety-eight times out 
of a hundred it is true. Mediocrity needs to be safe- 
guarded against discouragement, but the time will 
never be when perseverance and diligence do not com- 



90 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

mand a reward. However far society may go in mass- 
movements, and it will likely go a long way, individual 
initiative cannot be impaired without serious loss and 
possible disaster. 

To wear the mantle of Elijah is not to be a mere 
imitator. Elisha was most unlike Elijah. The older 
prophet loved the wilderness and solitary places, the 
younger, the city and the camps of Israel's armies. The 
Tishbite was stern and of fiery intensity; the son of 
Shaphat was milder, gentler, yet withal firm and un- 
compromising with evil. Imitators there are of every 
great leader, men who simulate voice, gesture, and 
even foibles, but the true successor possesses the spirit 
and preserves his own individuality. 

If we wish the mantle of Elijah we shall have to 
make ourselves worthy of it. In order to do as much 
as our fathers we shall have to do more. To be as good 
as our fathers we shall have to be better. We stand 
upon their shoulders, we are the beneficiaries of their 
labor and love. We may not be able to match their 
strong intellects or their rugged characters inured by 
hardship and exposure, but we ought to be able to sur- 
pass them in the use of the wider knowledge and the 
accumulated heritage that is ours. Our temptation is 
to tarry at the place where they laid down the burden. 
Our tendency is to camp around the spot and to estab- 
lish the banner where they battled. But we cannot be 
true to their memory unless we go forward and plant 
that banner on higher ground. 

Elijah's mantle was the symbol of the choice of 
Elisha to continue the prophet's ministry. In the upper 
room in Jerusalem Jesus breathed upon His disciples, 



THE MANTLE OF ELIJAH 91 

symbolic of His Spirit that was soon to come upon 
them. He was parted from that chosen group while in 
the very act of blessing them. In that parting He con- 
ferred upon them no insignia of authority that the 
eye could see. There fell from Him no visible mantle, 
but they possessed His promise and that was enough 
until fulfillment came. The disciples tarried in prayer 
and expectancy, and upon them thus gathered, His 
Spirit came in fullness and power. Jesus was not an 
exception to God's law of succession; He left no suc- 
cessor, but He left many successors. "In going," says 
Bishop Brent, "Christ came in a fullness which was 
wanting before He went, the fullness of added availa- 
bility, a higher degree of presence." 

Elisha prayed for a double portion of Elijah's spirit, 
and thereby received his mantle. The mantle without 
the spirit was a cast-off garment, a mere piece of cloth, 
but as a symbol of the spirit it was an eloquent reminder 
of the great prophet who wore it becomingly and with 
power. Jesus, in granting His Spirit gave more than 
the disciples had dared to ask, and thus He gives us 
of Himself today — superabundantly — if we will but 
receive Him. 

So stir me Lord that I may 
Give myself so back to Thee 
That Thou mayest give 
Thyself again through me. 



VII 

HABAKKUK'S HYMN 

A Meditation on the Winged Words of an Old 
Testament Saint 



Habakkuk 3:17-19. 

For though the fig tree shall not flourish, 

Neither shall fruit be in the vines; 

The labor of the olive shall fail, 

And the fields shall yield no food; 

The flock shall be cut off from the fold, 

And there shall be no herd in the stalls : 

Yet I will rejoice in Jehovah, 

I will joy in the God of my salvation. 

Jehovah, the Lord, is my strength; 

And He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, 

And will make me to walk upon my high places. 



VII 

HABAKKUK'S HYMN 

This noble Scripture is a rich discovery in an unex- 
pected place. For that matter, life is full of surprises. 
How often we come unexpectedly upon new discoveries. 
We take up a book more or less familiar; we think 
we know it by heart ; and lo ! among its score of chap- 
ters and thousands of words we find in some obscure 
paragraph a passage of extraordinary worth. We set 
out to journey over a familiar road; we think we know 
its every landmark, and then, to our surprise, we come 
suddenly upon a landscape of great beauty. We enjoy 
the association of a dear friend, of such long standing 
that we believe we know him thoroughly, only to dis- 
cover some day as by a flash of lightning a new trait, 
a surprising courage, or some talent we never dreamed 
of his possessing. Thus it is with this Book of books; 
we think we know it fairly well, only to discover some- 
times in the most casual way, new riches, new beauties, 
new wisdom. 

Comparatively few readers of the Bible are familiar 
with the book of Habakkuk. An exceeding great num- 
ber would find it difficult to turn to it promptly. We 
know nothing of Habakkuk save what may be inferred 
from this book that bears his name. He probably 
flourished in the reign of Jehoiakim, that evil King 
95 



96 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

who deliberately cut to pieces certain portions of the 
Scriptures that were disagreeable to him. Habakkuk 
is known as one of the minor prophets, yet here is an 
utterance worthy of a Jeremiah, an Isaiah or an Ezekiel. 
Thank God minor prophets may sometimes be majors 
in the army of the Lord ! 

While it is true that Habakkuk is unknown to most 
readers of the Scriptures, his brief but valuable book 
has rewarded many diligent students of the Word. 

Daniel Webster, in a conversation with some friends, 
was asked his preference as to portions of the Bible. 
In reply he said, "The masterpiece of the New Testa- 
ment, of course, is the Sermon on the Mount. As to 
the Old Testament writings, my favorite book is that 
of Habakkuk; and my favorite verses in chapter three 
— seventeen and eighteen : Tor though the fig tree shall 
not flourish, neither shall fruit be in the vine ; the labor 
of the olive shall fail, and the field shall yield no food; 
the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall 
be no herd in the stall; yet I will rejoice in Jehovah, 
I will joy in the God of my salvation/ This," con- 
tinued Webster, "I regard as one of the sublime pas- 
sages of literature; and often have I wondered that 
some artist equal to the task has not selected the 
prophet and the scene of his desolation as the subject 
of a painting. " 

The fact that this unusually fine passage is in an 
obscure book of the Bible suggests that other undis- 
covered jewels are scattered throughout the Scriptures. 
Every one who searches the Scriptures for worthy 
goals may expect to be amply rewarded. One would 
hesitate to say that we are too familiar with the four- 



HABAKKUK'S HYMN 97 

teenth of John, the twenty-third Psalm, the thirteenth 
of First Corinthians, or the eighth of Romans; but it 
is lamentably true that we are unfamiliar with many 
portions of the Scriptures wrongly deemed unimportant 
and commonplace. 

i 

These winged words of Habakkuk, in which he vows 
that whether or not his fields prosper or his flocks in- 
crease, he will rejoice in Jehovah, approach a defini- 
tion of the nature of real religion. Religion is a diffi- 
cult term to define, and many misleading definitions 
have been written. In Acts, the seventeenth chapter, 
Paul in his speech in Athens tells his hearers that they 
are very religious, but the word literally means "super- 
stitious" or "demon- fearing." In James, the first chap- 
ter and twenty-seventh verse, "pure religion and unde- 
nted before our God and Father" is described as "vis- 
iting the fatherless and widows in their affliction and 
keeping oneself unspotted from the world." This is 
not a definition of religion, but a description of a prac- 
tical expression of the same, and a good one, too. In 
attempting to define religion, we usually fall into the 
error of selecting an aspect of religion and defining 
the whole by a part. 

There is, for example, a ceremonial religion — a view 
of God that expresses itself in punctilious observance 
of form. The Pharisees stressed this kind of reli- 
gion; they made the form an end instead of a means. 
Forms have their places in religion and ceremonies 
their uses. We may properly think of forms and cere- 
monies as the A-B-C of religion. One should use them 



98 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

as he uses the alphabet; that is, having learned the 
alphabet, he passes on to the creation of sentences, 
paragraphs, and the formation of a vocabulary. But 
there are those who use form and ceremony as goals, 
instead of vehicles to the goal. 

There is also a propositional or creedal religion, an 
intellectual assent to a truth or doctrine. Now, correct 
thinking is good, yes, more, it is necessary, but it is 
not of itself sufficient. The Scriptures tell us that 
"even the demons believe and tremble.' ' Devils are al- 
ways orthodox. The assent of the mind to a doctrine, 
even a Christian doctrine, may or may not be really 
religious. Intellectual acceptance of Christian doctrine 
is the beginning of a saving faith in God through 
Jesus Christ, but belief itself is not trust save as the 
bud is the flower. 

Still again, there is a devotional religion. A wor- 
shipful service makes a direct appeal to the nature of 
some persons whose lives are not really righteous, but 
who are charmed by the* esthetic effect of prayer or 
preaching, and the mystery and spiritual romance that 
haloes the house of God. The devotional spirit enters 
largely into real religion, but it is not the whole of 
religion. 

There is likewise a practical or humanitarian religion 
which consists in deeds of mercy — a religion of min- 
istry to body and mind ; a religion that stresses the idea 
of burden bearing and succoring the unfortunate. It 
may ignore or profess to ignore the institutional side 
of religion and even repudiate the creedal and the 
formal. Such a practical and necessary serving of 
humanity is a large part of religion, but it is not all. 



HABAKKUK'S HYMN 99 

Habakkuk was not a stranger to ceremonial religion. 
As a devout Jew the various rites of purification, the 
numerous sacrifices and offerings, the tithing even of 
the smallest herbs — all these were probably observed 
by him. Undoubtedly he had given intellectual assent 
to the truths that are embodied in the decalogue. We 
may well believe that he found pleasure in the stately 
temple service, the majestic order of worship, the an- 
tiphonal choirs — that these found and fed the soul of 
the prophet. We know that his religion was practical 
and that it was social as well as individualistic. Was 
it not this same brave soul who wrote, "Woe to him 
that getteth an evil gain for his house, that he may set 
his nest on high that he may be delivered from the 
hand of evil ! Woe to him that buildeth a town with 
blood and establish a city by iniquity." 

ii 

Habukkuk avers in this personal confession of faith 
that his trust in God does not depend upon the success 
of his crops, the vintage of his grapes, nor his jars of 
olives, his flocks and his herds. He may lose a part or 
all but that will make no difference to his devotion to 
God. However distressing and hard his experience, he 
means that his faith shall triumph. He exclaims ex- 
ultantly : "I will joy in the God of my salvation." He 
goes still further although it would seem that he has 
gone as far as possible in his avowals of loyalty and 
trust. He makes use in the closing verse of one of the 
most beautiful and poetic of allusions to be found in 
the Scriptures. He climaxes his great affirmation, that 
he will trust God whate'er befall him, with these pic- 



100 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

torial words: "God maketh my feet like hind's feet 
and will make me to walk on my high places." 

Habakkuk must have been familiar with the moun- 
tain stag or gazelle, one of the most nimble, graceful, 
and fleetest of creatures. The hinds make their homes 
in the upper regions of the mountains where they are 
undisturbed by hunter's dog or his master. From these 
secure retreats they venture down the mountain-side 
to feed on the succulent roots and herbage. When dis- 
turbed in their grazing by an enemy they disappear as 
if by magic, their feet fairly twinkling in flashes of 
speed; and when next one sees them they are far up 
the mountain safe from harm in the high places with 
impassable barriers between them and their foe. Habak- 
kuk means to say that when the world seems against 
him and everything has gone wrong, his spirit bounds 
as the hind and is carried up into the high places where 
the armies of Jehovah are around and about him, pro- 
tecting him. There is an echo of the same thought in 
Isaiah. "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew 
their strength, they shall mount up with the wings of 
eagles, they shall run and be not weary, they shall walk 
and faint not." It is an exultant faith when one is able 
so to live. It is a triumphant trust. It is real religion 
where God is loved for His own sake and not because 
of any material reward. 



One sees in this seraphic passage of Scripture a 
spiritual declaration of independence. The soul is no 
longer in bondage to the letter of the law, the ceremony 
or the creed. The world, the flesh and the devil have 



HABAKKUK'S HYMN 101 

lost their power to enthrall. God is served for His 
own sake. Here is a religion with all of self washed 
out; a spiritual yet practical faith needs no defense, 
and is impervious to criticism. Here is a confidence 
in thq Divine like that of the afflicted patriarch who 
cried amid his suffering — "Though he slay me yet will 
I trust him." Here is a real religion — no artifice, no 
hypocrisy, no mistaken emphasis or reversing of the 
Divine order. Here is the top round of the ladder of 
faith. This is the kind of religion that Paul had in 
mind when he wrote, "But the fruit of the spirit is love, 
joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith- 
fulness, meekness, self-control. Against such there is 
no law." Here is a sublime confidence in God such 
as Jesus taught in the sermon on the Mount. "If God 
doth so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, 
and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much 
more clothe you, O ye of little faith?" 

We praise God for Habakkuk, that brave soul of the 
long ago. We know so little about him ; we know less 
of him than the world knows of Shakespeare, and that 
is precious little. We do not know how this prophet 
looked ; the color of his eyes, the profile of his face, the 
tone of his voice. Yet, notwithstanding, we can almost 
feel the throbbing of his heart as we read hi si great 
h ymn of faith . Across the centuries he speaks to us 
and bids us to be brave ; he calls upon us to love God for 
His own sake and to serve Him without fear, regard- 
less of the storms that beat upon us and the doubts and 
difficulties that pursue us. 



VIII 

THE LADDER OF PRAYER 

An Elementary Lesson in the Greatest of Schools 



Genesis 28:12. 

And he dreamed; and, behold, a ladder set 
up on the earth, and the top of it reached to 
heaven ; and, behold, the angels of God ascend- 
ing and descending on it. 

Luke 11 :i. 

And it came to pass, as He was praying in a 
certain place, that when He ceased, one of His 
disciples said unto Him, Lord, teach us to 
pray, even as John also taught his disciples. 



VIII 

THE LADDER OF PRAYER 

"The history of prayer is the history of religion," 
declares Sabatier. In truth, the history of prayer is 
the history of the human race. However benighted or 
barbarous, man has always prayed though his prayers 
have often been crude and mechanical. Between that 
far-away time when Jacob saw in the vision of the 
night a ladder reaching from earth to heaven, and the 
days when Jesus of Nazareth prayed as never man 
prayed before or since, the idea of prayer has under- 
gone decided change and experienced marked growth. 
The conception of prayer is not the same in both the 
Old and the New Testament, nor is this surprising 
since the revelation of God in the Holy Scriptures is 
progressive, reaching its apex in the life and ministry 
of Jesus Christ. Just how largely the idea of prayer 
is developed in the Scriptures may be seen by a com- 
parison of the teachings and examples of prayer in 
the Old Testament with that of the New. In the for- 
mer, prayer is for the most part to a localized God, 
due to the belief that some places were holier than 
others; in the latter prayer is to an omnipresent God 
who hears the cry of His children without regard to 
place or time. In the Old Testament the prayers of the 
people are nationalistic and encrusted with the proud 
105 



106 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

belief that Jehovah is thet God of the Jew only. In 
the New, the teaching is of a universal Father, a God 
who is not a respecter of persons, race or conditions. 
In the Old Testament the approach to God is largely — 
though not altogether — through priestly mediation. In 
the New it is taught that the lowliest of earth can 
go to the heavenly Father without any mediator other 
than the great High Priest who can be touched with 
the feeling of our infirmity. Finally, the prayer for 
vengeance which is found occasionally in the Old 
Testament gives place in the New to prayer for one's 
enemies. Samson's dying prayer as he twined his arms 
about the pillars of the Philistinian palace and entreated 
Jehovah to help him avenge his enemies, suffers when 
compared with the prayer of dying Stephen for those 
who stoned him — "Lord, lay not this sin to their 
charge." 

It is interesting to think of prayer as a ladder fash- 
ioned after the similitude of Jacob's dream, a ladder 
reaching from lowly earth to highest heaven, a mystic 
means of communion between man and God, a lumi- 
nous pathway of the spirit. Jacob created his ladder out 
of his dreams and in like manner we build the ladder 
of prayer as we grow in grace and knowledge of Jesus 
Christ our Lord. 

Heaven is not reached at a single bound, 
We build the ladder by which we rise 

From the lowly earth to the vaulted skies, 
And we mount to the summit round by round. 

I 
The first round in the ladder is "saying" a prayer. 
This is the most elementary kind of praying in the 



THE LADDER OF PRAYER 107 

school of Christ. It may be, and frequently is, purely 
mechanical. It is the repetition of certain words or 
phrases, but with the definite and dominate idea that 
God is, that He hears and is able to help us. Children 
"say prayers — verses" which have been taught them by 
parents or guardians to whom their upbringing is en- 
trusted. And this custom is tender, beautiful and al- 
together wholesome. Think of the unnumbered hosts 
of children who every day repeat that simple, yet lovely 
prayer of childhood. 

Now I lay me down to sleep; 
I pray the Lord my soul to keep. 
If I should die before I wake, 
I pray the Lord my soul to take. 
This I ask for Jesus' sake. 

We expect children to say prayers, but grown up 
people also say prayers. There are groups of devoted 
Christians belonging to historic churches who never 
pray without the use of formal prayer or ritual. 
Whether the habitual use — in worship — of a form of 
prayer becomes formal or lifeless depends upon the 
one who prays. To repeat a prayer without any 
thought as to the meaning of the words — but mechani- 
cally — is not to pray but to say a prayer. When the 
disciples of John asked Jesus to teach them to pray, 
He gave them a model prayer which has been called, 
for some reason not entirely clear, the "Lord's Prayer." 
It may be questioned whether Jesus gave this prayer for 
such a use as we moderns make of it. I think He gave 
it to His disciples as a pattern by which they were to 
fashion their own prayers ; we use it as a form. There 
can be no good reason for objection to its use as a form 



108 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

provided it is not used solely as such. "Saying a 
prayer" is better than not praying at all. It is the first 
lesson in the prayer primer. It is the lowest round on 
the prayer ladder. 

ii 

The second round is praying a prayer. This is a 
distinct advance over saying a prayer. It is the differ- 
ence of putting a roll of music on a piano player and 
manipulating the same, and the playing of the music 
through the mastery of the keyboard. Here is where 
the worshiper passes from mere repetition to conscious 
communion with God. A formal prayer can be used 
to the good of man and the glory of God. I believe in 
extempore prayer and utilize it in public services con- 
stantly; but there are times when I cannot frame suit- 
able sentences of my own; times when the mind is 
weary and the spirit lags; times when a noble liturgy 
becomes a necessity and a blessing. 

That awful night the Titanic went down amid the 
wild terror of iceberg and frightful expanse of an un- 
plumbed sea, a dozen men and women clung to a frail 
raft and battled desperately for life. Only a few sur- 
vived the terrible exposure. Colonel Gracie, a dis- 
tinguished American, was one who lived to tell the 
story. He has left the testimony that as he and his 
fellow unfortunates clung to the raft; their bodies 
immersed in the icy water; the cold stars over their 
heads and the cries of dying in their ears ; they repeated 
together, and over and over again the familiar words : 

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, 
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is 
heaven — 



THE LADDER OF PRAYER 109 

And so on to the end and over and over again. Be 
sure those shipwrecked men and women did not say 
that prayer; they prayed as they repeated the precious 
petitions ; they prayed as they thus communed with the 
holy Father; prayed in intensity, in hope, in faith. 
The age-old model prayer became that night a ladder 
reaching from the cold waters of the Atlantic to heaven 
and the Father's house of many mansions. 

m 

The third round in the ladder of prayer is praying 
for self. Here one recognizes personal need and ex- 
presses it in petition or supplication. The beginning 
of prayer for self is usually almost wholly petition, 
and self -centered at that. What we ask God for mir- 
rors our inner life. Our petitions of yesterday do not 
look well in the light of today, and they may possibly 
shrivel more in the light of tomorrow. It is possible 
to mark the transformation of character by the differ- 
ence in the character and object of our prayers. The 
Prodigal Son in the earlier stage of his career prayed, 
"Give me the portion of goods that falleth to me." 
How different his accent after the "far country" ex- 
perience, when broken and contrite he prayed : "Make 
me as one of thy hired servants." As far as the east 
is from the west, so far apart in spirit are the petitions 
"give me" and "make me." Like the prodigal, we too 
have prayed the "give me" prayers; "give me pleasure, 
give me fame, give me prestige, give me money, give 
me worldly success." From the selfish prayer "give 
me," we must turn to the noble "make me" petition; 
"make me true, make me strong to do the right; make 



110 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

me willing to suffer for truth' ' ; thus shall we grow in 
Godliness. 

The prayer that Jacob offered as he set out on his 
journey into the new country where he was to lay 
the foundations of his material fortunes is selfish and 
of a bargaining nature. He vowed a vow and said, 
"If God will be with me and will keep me in this way 
that I go, and will give me bread to eat and raiment 
to put on — then shall the Lord be my God." Contrast 
this petition with his prayer at the ford of the river 
Jabbok many years later when danger threatened him 
and retribution for the wrong that he had done Esau 
seemed close at hand. That night alone under the 
Syrian sky, alone with his conscience and his God, Ja- 
cob prayed : "I am not worthy of the least of all the 
mercies, and of all the truth which thou hast showed 
unto thy servant." It is to be expected that our primary 
lessons in the school of prayer will not be as mature and 
free from flaw as those lessons that are learned in the 
crucible of experience, pain and suffering. 

The prayers of the Pharisee and the publican illus- 
trate extremes and a notable contrast in praying for 
self. The Pharisee prayed thus with himself and for 
himself : "God, I thank thee that I am not as other men 
are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this 
publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all 
that I possess." And the publican standing afar off 
would not lift up so much his eyes unto heaven, but 
smote upon his breast, saying : "God be merciful to me 
a sinner." We have the judgment of our Lord Him- 
self, that the publican's prayer had the approval of 
God. Alas, some of us never get beyond the selfish 



THE LADDER OF PRAYER 111 

petition, the entreaty for personal preference. We are 
more concerned with "mine" than "Thine." We are 
submerged in what Dr. F. B. Meyers calls a sea of 



w 

The fourth round is praying for others. Here one's 
prayer life assumes a nobler spirit and deepens and 
widens like the channel of a river approaching the 
waters of the open sea. Intercession with God for 
others is Christlike and of the ministry mediatorial. 
It is worthy of comment that in the Old Testament 
times when the ideal of prayer was not so high as that 
taught by Jesus, Samuel frankly acknowledged the 
duty of praying for others in memorable words. Thus, 
when he retired from judging of Israel and gave way 
to Saul, the first King, he said : "Far be from me that 
I should sin against Jehovah in ceasing to pray for 
you." How many nowaday Christians regard it as a 
sin not to pray for others — pathetically few, let us 
confess. 

It is difficult to overestimate the place and power 
of intercessory prayer. Many a minister has been 
steadied at a critical time and enheartened by a knowl- 
edge that the prayers of the people were rising daily like 
incense, for the blessing of God upon him and his 
work. Many a son or daughter away from home, out 
in the great world battling with strong temptations, 
have been mightily refreshed by the thought that 
mother's prayer never ceases to rise in behalf of the 
absent boy or girl. I confess to a sense of wonder and 
to a feeling of humility whenever requests reach me 



112 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

for definite personal prayer for others. Thus, over the 
telephone one day an unfamiliar voice said : "I heard 
your sermon yesterday ; please pray for me that I may 
be victor in a fierce temptation that threatens me." I 
open my mail and here is a letter from a little girl in a 
hospital far in the southland stricken with a serious 
malady, and asking me to pray for her. O, the marvel, 
the mystery, and the power of intercessory prayer. 

A famous American preacher relates this story. 
There was a woman in his church, old, bent, poor, but 
somehow strangely radiant beneath her triple burden. 
The preacher often wondered at her brave ongoing. 
One day she chanced to tell him. of this. Too slim 
her purse to give, too bent her body to serve, she was 
wont to clip the obituaries in the daily papers and then 
for each of the stricken households — to pray! Did 
God hear the prayer of this shut-in saint? As dis- 
tinctly as a mother hears the faintest cry of her first 
born. 



The fifth round of the Prayer ladder is praying "in 
the Spirit." This is the acme of prayer. Here the 
spirit of the heavenly Father and His children meet 
and merge; this is the prayer of triumphant consecra- 
tion, "Thy will be done." There may be no articulate 
words, but the spirit of prayer permeates one's whole 
being and it is as though the entire being were vocal. 
The most spiritual prayers are often quite independent 
of* form or ceremony and do not necessarily require 
speech. In the greatest experiences of life words are 
feeble and inadequate; but love and sacrifice speak in 



THE LADDER OF PRAYER 113 

the eloquent expression of the eye, the trembling of the 
chin, the tear moist cheek; just so in the highest ex- 
perience of prayer there is such harmony of soul, such 
oneness of spirit with the Divine that speech could add 
nothing to the glory and the consecration of the mo- 
ment. 

I recall an incident so intimate and tender that the 
recollection is like the entering into some holy of holies. 
The incident is one of several growing out of the 
severing of pastoral ties of many years and the calling 
as my successor, the young man who had served for a 
year as my assistant. This young man and I had 
enjoyed a year of unbroken fellowship. I had been at- 
tracted to him upon first acquaintance, and I saw in 
him certain gifts that I felt sure would fit him for the 
educational directorship of the church. When it be- 
came apparent that he would be chosen to succeed me 
as minister of that old and conspicuous church, he was 
quite overwhelmed with the thought and could scarcely 
think his way through the possibilities of the promotion 
with the responsibilities it entailed. In the midst of 
those first hours of stress and uncertainty I went to his 
study intending to confer with him there. He did 
not hear me open the door. I saw him seated at his 
desk with his arms stretched out across the table; his 
face pressed against the polished surface was turned 
toward me; his eyes were closed. I stood a moment 
wondering if he were ill ; then like a flash I understood, 
amid the anxiety and the elation of the sudden oppor- 
tunity that had come to him he had turned in prayer 
to Almighty God for light and leading. He had bowed 
himself before the heavenly Father, and without any 



114 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

articulate speech was seeking to find the Divine will and 
to merge his will into God's will. I turned and tip- 
toed out of the room, but there remains with me to 
this day the picture of that young minister falling 
back upon the Everlasting Arms, and the unspoken pe- 
tition for guidance and strength. Thus do we build 
the ladder of prayer, beginning with "saying prayers" 
and ending with praying in the Spirit. On such a lad- 
der the angels of God ascend and descend — messen- 
gers of His mercy and love. 

In the abstract this prayer ladder may seem fanciful, 
but behold it now concretely in the life of Jesus Christ. 
It is unthinkable that Jesus ever said a prayer, but we 
may well believe He repeated with unction and grace 
some of those great prayer psalms which to this day 
are redolent with praise. Jesus prayed for Himself, 
but no selfish prayer ever found utterance with Him. 
He prayed for Himself that He might accomplish the 
work where unto He was sent. He prayed in the pres- 
ence of strong temptation for the victory of the spirit 
over the flesh. But He prayed mostly for others. He 
prayed for His disciples. He prayed for them collec- 
tively and by name. He prayed for Peter and His 
prayer for that impetuous disciple was answered. He 
prayed for little children and was indignant because 
the disciples discouraged the mothers from bringing 
their children to Him. His prayer recorded in the 
seventeenth chapter of John is an intercessory prayer 
in which He prayed for Himself, for the disciples 
that were then with Him and for all who should be His 
disciples. He prayed for the unity of believers that 
they might be one, even as He and the Father are one. 



THE LADDER OF PRAYER 115 

In Gethsemane He prayed the prayer of complete sub- 
mission and resignation, "Father, if Thou be willing 
remove this cup from me, nevertheless not my will 
but Thine be done." On the Cross He prayed for His 
enemies, for those who had betrayed Him, for those 
who nailed Him there, for all, "Father, forgive them 
for they know not what they do." 

Is it any wonder that the disciples asked Jesus to 
teach them to pray? If He needed to pray, how much 
more His disciples. To the School of Prayer as taught 
by Jesus let us go in great numbers and for life and 
forever. What boots it if our beginnings of prayer 
are humble and feeble. If we persist we shall grow in 
prayer as in stature, in years, in everything. Be- 
ginning by "saying a prayer" we shall come at last 
really to pray in the Spirit. 

The builder who first bridged Niagara's gorge. 
Before he swung his cable, shore to shore, 
Sent out across the gulf his venturing kite 
Bearing a slender cord for unseen hands 
To grasp upon a further cliff and draw 
A greater cord, and then a greater yet; 
Till at last across the chasm swung 
The cable — then the mighty bridge in air! 

So we may send our little timid thought 
Across the void, out to God's reaching hands 
Send out our love and faith to thread the deep 
Thought after thought until the little cord 
Has greatened to a chain no chance can break, 
And — we are anchored to the infinite. 



IX 

THE HIGHER SPIRITUALISM 

A Study in the Essential Truth which Underlies the 

Vagaries and Varieties of Spiritualistic 

Experiments 



John 16:7. (MofTatt's Translation.) 

Yet — I am telling you the truth — my going 
is for your good. If I do not depart, the 
Helper will not come to you; whereas if I go, 
I will send him to you. 

Hebrews 12 .22, 23. 

Ye are come ... to the spirits of just men 
made perfect. 



IX 

THE HIGHER SPIRITUALISM 

There is good reason to believe that interest in 
Spiritualism is waning. The Great War with its 
losses, separations and sorrows contributed largely to 
the revival of interest in the subject, particularly the 
publication of Sir Oliver Lodge's much talked-of vol- 
ume entitled "Raymond." A reading of this book 
fills one with commingled emotions. The sincerity of 
the author is beyond question, and the weight of his 
great name is impressive. Moreover, there is the throb 
of a father's great heart in every page ; a heart bruised 
if not broken by the death in battle of a brilliant and 
devoted son. Some parts of the book are much more 
valuable than others, for instance the chapters de- 
voted to Life, Death, and Immortality. Least con- 
vincing to most readers is the portion in which com- 
munications from Raymond are chronicled in minutest 
detail. 

In the church to which I ministered for many years 
an old gentleman who was a devout and enthusiastic 
Spiritualist held membership. He was anxious to con- 
vert me to his views, sent me numerous articles, and 
on the occasions when I was a guest in his home re- 
galed me with many experiences in the realm of what 
he called "Revealments" from the other world. He had 
119 



120 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

lost two sons in infancy, and hanging upon the walls 
of his living room were two life-sized portraits of 
young men, which, he explained to me, were painted 
by Spirit hands. The pictures were devoid of person- 
ality and were so palpably spurious as to deceive only 
the most credulous. Yet, withal, I could not but ad- 
mire the old gentleman's sturdy insistence that he 
knew death does not end all. 

Several reasons occur to me why Spiritualism as it 
is commonly explained and interpreted does not satisfy 
the deep yearnings with which it presumes to deal. I 
agree with Dean Inge — "If communication between 
the dead and the living were part of the nature of 
things, they would have been established long ago 
beyond cavil, for there are few things which men have 
wished more eagerly to believe." Then, the so-called 
"communications" for the most part are trivial, trifling, 
and unimportant. Nothing really vital has been added 
to our stock of knowledge through spiritualistic mes- 
sages. Again, if such communications were possible 
it is difficult to understand why they cannot be made 
directly to men and women who are spiritually minded 
instead of through intermediaries who are often of in- 
ferior intelligence and sometimes of doubtful charac- 
ters. And what is still more fundamental — if it be 
possible for the dead to bring us information as to the 
nature of the life beyond death, it is a large question 
whether such knowledge would not disturb the natural 
order of things, and hinder, rather than help, us in 
the life that now is. Pope's fine couplet is to the point : 

O blindness to the future; kindly given, 

That each may fill the circle marked by heaven. 



THE HIGHER SPIRITUALISM 121 

These mild and tentative strictures of Spiritualism 
are made with due regard for the open mind as well 
as the good men and women who believe that the 
dead return. There is something in this desire to lift 
the veil and see what lies beyond the grave that is thor- 
oughly human and readily understood. Not only so, 
but back of and underneath the trappings of Spiritual- 
ism, the tinsel and the show, there must be some 
truth. It could scarcely be otherwise. I do not credit 
highly the Spiritualism that finds satisfaction in "table- 
tipping," "rappings," "trumpets," "ouija boards," and 
trance mediums, but I believe in what I shall call "The 
Higher Spiritualism," by which term I mean not com- 
munication but communion with the spirits of the dead. 

THE RULERSHIP OF THE NOBLE DEAD 

Jesus said that God is not the God of the dead but 
of the living. It is unlikely that many people believe 
in "soul sleeping," — a doctrine which holds that the 
vital spark is snuffed out by death until such a time as 
it please God to rekindle it. The dead still rule us, not 
merely from "sceptered urns" but from deeper sources 
yet. It is difficult to say which is the more powerful 
influence — the presence and inspiration of the living 
or the spiritual presence and power of those whom we 
call dead. Not a day passes without some reminder 
through newspaper, conversation, book, picture or 
monument of that great company who are not of the 
flesh but of the spirit. I open a volume of poetry, and 
the first selection that catches my eye is a sonnet to a 
great Soul who lives not in a name merely but in the 
thoughts, aspirations and deeds of a generation that 



122 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

never knew him in the flesh. I listen to a gifted orator 
speaking in behalf of a worthy cause. His is a voice 
in the wilderness, and he pleads eloquently in behalf of 
the poor, the down-trodden, and the long-suffering. I 
see the flash of his eye and feel the thrill of his voice as 
he calls upon the citizenry in the name of a mighty 
leader, dead for more than half a century and bids us 
follow his spiritual guidance. We speak of the "silent 
majority" by which is meant the unnumbered millions 
who have gone the way of all the earth. Silent they 
are, but not powerless. Nor is this "rulership of the 
dead" explained by the immortality of influence, the 
"Choir Invisible" of George Eliot's famous poem. 
Here is something plus the immortality of influence, 
something deeper, more potent still! 

It is good to visit Mount Vernon on the lordly Po- 
tomac when Spring has clothed the Virginia fields and 
forests in garments of velvety green, or better still 
when Autumn has made the landscape a riot of color 
— crimson, maroon and gold. What a high adventure 
to stroll leisurely over that spacious estate, to wander 
from room to room in the noble mansion, or stand un- 
covered by the simple and unadorned tomb where the 
dust of Washington reposes. So to do is to sense the 
dignity, the courage, the patience, of that quiet and 
courtly Virginian who willingly placed everything he 
had on the altar of liberty, and then steadfastly held his 
own through detraction, storm and calumny. Does he 
not seem alive ? Do not the place, the house, the yard, 
the fields seem filled with his strong and intrepid spirit ? 
Instead of being less than he was when in the flesh, 
General Washington in death is more than he was in 



THE HIGHER SPIRITUALISM 123 

life. One feels this same emotion at Monticello where 
Jefferson lived and his dust slumbers; at Lincoln's 
tomb at Springfield, or in and about his old-fashioned 
homestead there; at Emerson's grave at Concord; at 
Mrs. Browning's at Florence, Italy; yea, and also at 
countless graves of those unknown to fame who were 
loved long since and their physical presence lost awhile. 
Still more important is the fact that this emotion and 
the stirring of the same is not confined to any particu- 
lar* place, indeed is independent of locality though it 
may be intensified by the place or occasion where the 
imagination is quickened. 

The ministry of the Spirits of the great dead is im- 
pressively set forth in that notable oration of Henry 
Ward Beecher's on the effect of the death of Lincoln. 
I do not think there is anything to compare with it in 
our language either in solemn and stately cadence or the 
value of its deep and abiding spiritual worth. As he 
describes the progress of the funeral train across the 
States, the orator rises to majestic heights. "And 
now the martyr is moving in triumphal march mightier 
than when alive. The Nation rises up at every stage 
of his coming. Cities and States are his pall-bearers, 
and the cannon beats the hour with solemn progression. 
Dead, dead, dead, and yet speaking. Is Washington 
dead? Is Hampden dead? Is David dead? Is any 
man that was ever fit to live dead? Disenthralled of 
flesh, and risen in the unobstructed sphere where pas- 
sion never comes, he begins his illimitable work. His 
life now is grafted upon the Infinite and will be fruitful 
as no earthly life can be." 

This is not merely superb rhetoric; it is that and 



124 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

more. The spiritual influence of Abraham Lincoln is 
more powerful than was his fruitful life in the flesh. 
Each generation is destined to be the beneficiary of his 
sacrificial labors, but most of all the wide world is 
forever blessed through the heritage of his spirit freed 
from all limitations, and available to everyone who 
knows the story of his fidelity and patience even unto 
death. 

JESUS' SPIRITUAL PRESENCE MORE POTENT THAN 
PHYSICAL 

Certain passages of Scripture which throw light 
upon the potency of the Spirit's ministry deserve to be 
reexamined and studied afresh. Portions of the con- 
versation that Jesus had with His disciples in the upper 
room are very much to the point. To the eleven friends 
He said: "Nevertheless I tell you the truth, it is ex- 
pedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away 
the Comforter will not come to you, but if I depart I 
will send him unto you." Moffatt's rendering is even 
more suggestive : "My going is for your good." Wey- 
mouth's translation is also helpful : "It is to your ad- 
vantage that I go away." Commenting on these words 
of Jesus', an English scholar says that it was "A lof- 
tier experience to which they would be introduced." 
In what does this "loftier experience" consist? What 
was the "advantage" that was to come through the 
withdrawal of Jesus' physical presence from the world ? 
There can be but one answer : His spiritual presence 
was to replace His physical presence. The Holy 
Spirit, the "Comforter," the "Helper," the "Advocate," 
^the "Ally," came instead. Jesus' personal ministry 



THE HIGHER SPIRITUALISM 125 

was of necessity limited both by time and geography. 
His companionship in the flesh could only be with a 
chosen few. His spiritual comradeship is with all who 
desire Him, and has eternity for scope and range. This 
spiritual ministry of Jesus is without limitation save 
where the human will is imposed and the door of the 
heart unopened to His repeated knockings. 

Jesus assured His disciples that they would do 
"greater works" than He had done, and He gave as the 
reason "because I go unto my Father." It is simply a 
fact, not only of New Testament history but of many 
centuries of history since the Christian Era, that Jesus 
accomplished through His spiritual ministry greater 
works by far than those done in the days of His flesh. 
Here is an aspect of Christian truth we are slow to 
receive; our stress is on the physical, our emphasis on 
the tangible. We are slow to believe in a spiritual min- 
istry apart from the material with which we have not 
only knowledge, but familiarity. Perhaps if we were 
willing to believe in the priority of the spiritual, the 
doctrine of the physical return of our Lord would 
not seem so important. It is an interesting fact that the 
word "parousia" which is generally translated "com- 
ing" when referring to the Apostle Paul is twice trans- 
lated "presence." There are able scholars who believe 
the word should be translated "presence" wherever it 
occurs in the New Testament. 

It is a tendency everywhere observable to become 
enamored with the outward trappings ; to treasure the 
physical vehicle above the spiritual content. Is it not 
noteworthy that the author of the Hebrew epistle con- 
trasts the old order, its forms and ceremonies; Mount 



126 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

Sinai with fire and smoke, the sound of trumpet, with 
Mount Zion the New Jerusalem, the hosts of angels, the 
general assembly and Church of the first born, and the 
Spirit of just men made perfect? It is to the latter, 
he says, that we are come and his argument is that these 
latter blessings are better than the old, are indeed best 
of all. 

In that appointment that Jesus kept with His dis- 
ciples in Galilee, He gave His final instructions to go 
into all the world and make Disciples of all the Na- 
tions. Then He gave the promise of His perpetual 
presence, saying — "Lo, I am with you always, even 
unto the end of the world." Or, to quote Weymouth 
again: "I am with you always, day by day, even to 
the close of the age." Here then in another form or 
phrasing is the promise of the spiritual presence of 
Christ. To be Christ's disciple then is to practice His 
presence, to respond to the leadings of His spirit, to 
be comforted, inspired, flooded, illumined through, of, 
and by the Spirit. An oft-quoted saying of St. John 
will bear much study and reflection — "Beloved now we 
are children of God and it is not yet made manifest 
what we shall be; we know that if He shall be mani- 
fested we shall be like Him ; for ye shall see Him even 
as He is." Yes, as He is, not as He was ! 

CONSEQUENCES OF SPIRITUAL COMMUNION 

Is not this concept of spiritual communion higher 
and truer than that of communication with those who 
have passed beyond the range of sight and hearing? 
Is there not an appeal here to the finest instincts of our 
being, to the deepest yearnings of the soul? To me 



THE HIGHER SPIRITUALISM 127 

there is and I am debtor to it a hundred- fold. It may- 
be profitable to reflect on what some rare souls have 
said of communion with the dead. Writing of his 
father, Thomas Carlyle said : "Perhaps my father, all 
that essentially was my father, is even now near me, 
with me. Both he and I are with God." John Henry- 
Newman wrote : "I am learning more than hitherto to 
live in the presence of the dead — this is a gain which 
strange faces cannot take away." 

Sir Robertson Nicoll in his "Reunion and Eternity" 
written while the Great War raged fiercely, has these 
thoughtful sentences — "Is it granted to us to have 
actual communion with the dead before the reunion? 
We have no distinct revelation, and yet 'in clear dream 
and solemn vision' much may be granted to the soul. 
Christ holds the dead by His right hand and His left 
hand holds ours. Is it possible that new currents of 
covenanting love may pass through Him from one to 
the other? How many can speak of sudden uplif tings, 
touches, guidances, which seem to come from the 
ancient love?" 

Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote to Lady Byron in 
1857: "I have got past the time when I feel that my 
heavenly friends are lost by going there. I feel them 
nearer, rather than farther off. So good-by dear, dear 
friend, and if you see morning in our Father's house 
before I do, carry my love to those that wait for me, 
and if I pass first, you will find me there, and we shall 
love each other for ever." 

Dr. John Ker wrote to a very dear friend : "I have 
the firm belief that the future world is not cut off 
from this, but one with it — one through Him who is 



128 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

Lord both of the living and the dead. Those who 
enter into it retain a personal and conscious existence 
near to Him, and He will find means of keeping up 
their connection, I do well believe, with that world 
which they have left. It is agreeable both to reason 
and Scripture that this should be so, and it is very con- 
solatory to us to think that we and our dear friends 
shall still have real union." 

Such testimony as this from men of letters and 
learning is good. But not alone the scholar and the 
saint, the woman in the home and the man in the 
crowd can also keep company with the elect of all time 
if they so desire. And what shall we say of the hearts 
bowed down that have been lifted up, supported by un- 
seen helpers. Here is a letter written to Dr. Joseph 
Fort Newton during his ministry at the City Temple, 
London, and reproduced in his diary of England during 
war times. It is a most human piece of writing and 
it is much more — it is a confession of faith in the 
Higher Spiritualism — 

"Dear Minister: 

"Early in the war I lost my husband, and I was 
mad with grief. I had the children to bring up and 
no one to help me, so I just raged against God for 
taking my husband from my side and yet calling 
Himself good. Someone told me that God could be 
to me all that my husband was and more. And so 
I got into the way of defying God in my heart. 
'Now and here,' I used to say, 'this is what I want 
and God can't give it to me.' After a while I came, 
somehow, to feel that God liked the honesty of it; 



THE HIGHER SPIRITUALISM 129 

liked this downright telling Him all my needs, 
though I had no belief jthat He could help me. One 
day I had gone into the garden to gather some 
flowers, and suddenly I knew that my husband was 
there with me — -just himself, only braver and 
stronger than he had ever been. I do not know 
how I knew; but I knew. There was no need of a 
medium, for I had found God myself, and, finding 
Him, I had found my husband too. ,, 

Surely here is something more comforting and deeply 
satisfying than recourse to darkened rooms and the 
crude and sometimes repellent paraphernalia of seances 
and curtained Cabinet. "Mystical experience," says 
Rufus M. Jones, "does not supply concrete informa- 
tion. It does not bring new finite facts, new items 
that can be used in a description of 'the scenery and 
circumstance' of the realm beyond our sense-horizons. 
It is the awareness of a Presence, the consciousness of 
a Beyond, the discovery as James put it that 'we are 
continuous with a More of the same quality, which is 
cooperative in us and in touch with us.' " 

Think you the aerial wires «., 

Whisper more than spirits may? 
Think you that our strong desires v: 

Touch no distance when we pray? 
Think you that no wings are flying 

'Twixt the living and the dying? 

It may be I should not close this study without in- 
cluding my own witness to this most intimate and per- 
sonal of subjects. One has not lived very long or 
deeply until there breaks over him the billows of that 
oldest and newest of experiences — death in the home. 



130 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

I cannot think of my own dead either as sleeping dream- 
lessly or inhabiting some far distant realm aloof and 
withdrawn from those of us who are still in the body. 
I can no more conceive of this than I can of God dwell- 
ing a million miles away, and that prayer to Him must 
perforce bridge so deep and awful a chasm. The com- 
panionship of those who are absent from this life of 
sight and touch and sound I continue to enjoy, but on 
the plane now where spirit meets with spirit and the 
sense of spiritual presence is strong and comforting. 

Tender and blessed forever are the memories of a 
lovely daughter who in the mystic days of maidenhood 

Standing with reluctant feet 
Where the brook and river meet 

went out from us through the old, old gateway of 
death. Lovers, friends, and comrades were we, and 
never more so than through the weeks when she 
bravely struggled to live and carry to fruition those 
earthly hopes that rightly were hers to cherish. When 
I reflect upon those days I find nowhere else such full- 
voicing of their wonder and blessedness as in the 
lines — 

The hours I spent with thee dear heart 
Are as a string of pearls to me, 
I count them over every one apart, 
My Rosary, My Rosary. 

Yes, as a strand of the fairest and costliest of pearls 
were those hours with our little girl in the days of her 
heroic struggle for restoration to health. Came then 
the day of days when early on the morning of July 
19, 1 91 8, her wondering eyes closed on the scenes of 



THE HIGHER SPIRITUALISM 131 

time and change. Never since has she been far from 
me nor is she now. I own the consciousness of her 
nearness and of companying with her. Sometimes 
amid the jostling crowds in the streets of a great city; 
sometimes as I walk over the quiet country fields or 
through the vocal woods ; sometimes in the hush of the 
communion service in the place of worship ; sometimes 
in the midst of that inner circle in the home which she 
so adorned — no matter where or when, I feel the win- 
some strength and know the restful radiance of her 
spiritual presence. 

Thus I humbly live and gladly have my being in an 
abiding sense of the Eternal nearness and the unseen 
comradeship of a glorious company. 

You think them "out of reach," your dead? 
Nay, by my own dead, I deny 
Your "out of reach" — Be comforted: 
Tis not so far to die. 



X 

GOD MEASURING THE CHURCHES 

How the Divine Spirit Appraises the Worth of a 

Christian Congregation and the Worshipers 

Therein 



Rev. ii :i. 

And there was given me a reed like unto a 
rod: and one said, Rise, and measure the 
V temple of God, and the altar, and them that ) 
worship therein. 



X 

GOD MEASURING THE CHURCHES 

The heroic company for whom the book of Revela- 
tion was written understood its cryptic allusions. 
Through a period of dark and turbulent years the 
first century Church conducted meetings in secret ; and 
by the aid of symbols, signs and passwords continued 
her mission in the face of bitter and deadly persecu- 
tion. The visions, figures, and cryptograms of Reve- 
lation, which have been the source of almost endless 
controversy, brought warning and comfort to our 
brethren of the apostolic age. Assuming that this book 
was written primarily for the generation to which it 
was addressed, it does not follow that it contains no 
message for these latter days. In a secondary sense the 
book is freighted with much that is profitable for every 
generation. 

Interpreters of various schools of theology agree that 
the allusion in Rev. n :i is to the church, its worship 
and conduct. God is represented as appraising His 
people and their worship. The apostle is bidden to 
discern the spiritual dimensions of the house of God. 

First, he measures — 

THE AREA OF THE TEMPLE 

Yes, measure the temple, but not merely the physical 
area, for that were the least important. Some of the 
135 



136 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

most spiritual congregations have worshiped in small 
and unimpressive edifices. Trinity Chapel, Brighton, 
where Frederick W. Robertson preached those sermons 
which were heard the world around, is said to have 
sittings for only four hundred. Measure, then, not the 
spaciousness or seating capacity, but observe how much 
of the whole life of the worshiper is to be found in 

I the house of God. Do the worshipers bring their all 
to church? What of the vision range of the minister 
and the office-bearers? Is the world objective of Jesus 
Christ kept constantly before the people, or are the 
ideals of the Temple provincial, narrow and mean? 
It has sometimes been urged — and with good intention 
— not to bring workaday memories or thoughts of 
vocation into the house of God. There is a sense in 
which such advice is good, but unless it be qualified 
or explained it may be misleading. Let men bring 
thoughts of shop, store, office and farm to the house 
of God; let women come with recollections of house- 
hold duties, the training of children, the never ending 
round of domestic cares. Thus worshiping, it may 
be that both men and women will come to perceive the 
intimate relation between daily toil and the Spirit Di- 
vine, and be strengthened accordingly. 

God is everywhere measuring the churches today. 
Are they big enough spiritually to serve and save this 

♦ generation? Are they sufficiently maintained to min- 
ister to every need of the community ? Are they feed- 
ing the emotions and starving the intellect? Are they 
providing for the adult life of the congregation and ig- 
noring the children? Are the churches measuring up 
to this need of the whole of life and supplying richly 



GOD MEASURING THE CHURCHES 137 

those great aids to faith that are necessary for the 
life abundant or, are they exclusive, snobbish and 
class-bound ? 

THE ALTAR 

"Rise and measure the altar." The altar is the soul 
of the temple. The idea of sacrifice is as old as reli- 
gion. When the artist paints primitive man at worship, 
he shows him kneeling before an altar on which a 
smoking sacrifice is laid. It is the altar that has 
given Christianity its supreme place among the world's 
religions. The communion of the Lord's Supper is 
more than a memorial ; it is also a symbol. The broken 
bread and the fruit of the vine speak to us of His altar 
experience, but do they mirror in any way the altar in 
the lives of the worshipers? The basic law of the! 
Christian life is the Cross. The very word "altar" 
is impressive ; there is in it the idea of sacrificial service 
and gifts, the ministry of renunciation. A church is 
great in proportion to the size of its altar life. An 
individual Christian is a power with God and man only 
as the altar bulks largely in his thought and deed. 

First century Christianity had no architecture 
worthy of name, no edifice even of the humbler kind. 
Its members met in upper rooms, caves of the earth, 
private homes — anywhere that they were able to come 
together and for the time be safe from the fire of the 
persecutors. The churches of that day boasted no 
"coffers" or material securities of any kind; they knew 
no organized life save of the slenderest, but they did 
possess the altar in a wondrous way. They shared their 
all with the humblest of earth, and they gave themselves 



138 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

without reserve for a redeemed society. How promi- 
nently the altar was in St. Paul's life. How noble are 
his flaming words; when replying to the critics who 
questioned his apostolic credentials, he cried : ' 'Hence- 
forth let no man trouble me; for I bear branded in 
my body the marks of Jesus." It was through the 
altar marks made by the lion which crunched his arm, 
that the body of David Livingstone was identified 
before it was buried with impressive honors in West- 
minster Abbey. 

"Rise and measure the altar," is a solemn injunction 
to modern Christians. What is the altar life of the 
average congregation ? What is the local church doing 
* for the community ? What service, what sacrifice, what 
ministry to the unfortunate, the despondent, the out- 
cast, the poor? What of the altar in the lives of the 
members? Is it strong or faint? Is pride still domi- 
nating the rank and file of the Christian common- 
wealth? Is prejudice still swaying the multitude of 
believers ? Is avarice and greed corroding the hearts of 
those who acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus ? Have 
we learned nothing new concerning sacrifice since the 
great war? Eighty thousand of America's youth gave 
their lives to make the world safe for women and little 
children. What of us who possess vigor, influence and 
talent, what are we giving ? What of the altar experi- 
ence on our part to make Christianity vital and fruitful 
the world over? Is the Cross only a symbol, a mere 
emblem to adorn a necklace or ornament for a watch 
fob? Yes, measure the altar and let us know the 
truth — even if it be an exposure of our meager ac- 
complishments in the realm of the spiritual. 



GOD MEASURING THE CHURCHES 139 

"and them that worship therein" 

The measuring passes now from the temple and the 
altar to the individual. True, the individual has been 
included in; both the measurement of the temple and 
the altar, but a more personal and individual appraisal 
must now be submitted to. God is about to take our 
measure in souj^walth. Have we learned to endure? 
How much patience do we possess? Is the forgiving 
spirit large with us? How long can we harbor a 
grudge? To what distance and inconvenience are we 
willing to go in order to right a wrong? Can we see 
the weak wronged without indignation ? Can we exult 
in the downfall of an enemy? Do we try to be just to 
those whom we do not like? Can we bear this measur- 
ing rod of Almighty God without a sense of littleness? 
Are we growing in the great graces of the spirit ? The 
questions are personal, searching, persistent, inescap- 
able. "Lord is it I? Is it I? Is it I?" 

There are a host of little Christians in the world, not 
children, but little-minded, little-hearted, little men and 
women who claim to follow the Great Christ. The 
mystery is profound. How can a man be little who 
really seeks to follow Jesus. No one can follow Him 
and remain small of soul, mean and narrow of mind 
— the process of following Jesus is an enlarging experi- 
ence, the moving from lower to higher ground and a 
consequent expansion of vision power. If littleness 
still possess us and we call ourselves Christian, be 
sure we are not following, we have halted; uncon- 
sciously we have stopped and He has gone on. 



140 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

By what standard does God measure the churches, 
the area of the temple, the altar and them that wor- 
ship therein? A popular custom is to measure our- 
selves by others and observe with pride wherein our 
accomplishments are larger and our growth more con- 
siderable than neighbors, friends, fellow church mem- 
bers. A man looks about him for instance, and after 
the manner of a certain infamous Pharisee solilo- 
quizes : "As compared with other folks I'm a pretty 
good kind of a Christian ; I attend church more regu- 
larly than my neighbors next door; I can offer a bet- 
ter prayer in public than any man of the Official Board; 
I thank God I am a more efficient Churchman than any- 
one else in the congregation." That standard of meas- 
urement is an abomination; it is mean, niggardly and 
contemptible. 

There are those, also, who while they scorn to meas- 
/ure themselves by others are quite ready to measure 
(themselves by themselves. These well meaning folk 
look back over the years and see wherein they can 
trace a growth in spiritual things and thus contrasting 
present attainments with past, believe themselves to 
find ground for self -congratulation. This method of 
measuring is not so objectionable as the other, but it 
is faulty and inadequate. In II Cor. 10:12, the apostle 
alludes to Christians of that day who measured them- 
selves by themselves, and he charged them with folly. 
The difficulty is that such measuring keeps one self- 
centered; it feeds pride, tickles vanity, chills enthusi- 
asm, smothers the noblest impulses. Behold a more 
excellent way I show you: 



GOD MEASURING THE CHURCHES 141 

JESUS THE STANDARD OF MEASUREMENT 

God's manner of measuring us is in Jesus Christ, His 
son. Peter refers toi Jesus as our example and bids 
us follow in His steps. Paul in a memorable passage 
enjoins the followers of Christ at Ephesus to strive 
toward high ideals : "Till we all come in the unity of 
faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto 
a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the 
fullness of Christ." The night of His betrayal Jesus 
gave to His disciples a new commandment, and bade 
them love one another even as He loved them. God, 
therefore, is measuring the temple, and the altar, and 
them that worship therein by and through His Som\ 
Consider how fully His measurements fill the require- 
ment of the text. 

How wonderfully His spirit fills the temple, minis- 
tering to the whole life. Lo, His abundant provisions 
for the old, the middle aged, the young and the little 
children. No one is forgotten or overlooked; the out- 
cast, the poor, the notorious sinner, the toiler, the house- 
wife, the scholar, the peasant — all are objects of His 
love and consideration. The sympathies of Jesus, like 
the waters of some great ocean whose waves lap the 
shores of many continents, reach every experience of 
human life. He is everybody's Christ. He is the 
same yesterday, today and forever. If lifted up in the 
thoughts and deeds of His followers, He will draw all 
men unto Himself. 

In Jesus' life the altar was supreme. He came not 
to be ministered unto. The spirit of sacrifice in His 
life permeates the pages of the Gospels as Mary's oint- 



142 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

ment filled the home of Simon the leper with its sweet 
fragrance. He was among the people as one who 
serveth. He set His face toward Jerusalem and of- 
fered Himself upon the high altar of the Cross for all 
mankind. Thus, he has become, as the author of the 
Hebrew Epistle has aptly phrased it — "our altar." 

With what vastness of mind and affection does Jesus 
meet the yearnings of the soul that seeks Him; what 
amplitude in the spirit of Jesus. No petty prejudices, 
no sordid ambition, no greed for place or possession, 
warped or dwarfed His character. The words that fell 
from His lips were words of ocean-like breadth: "all," 
"whosoever," "everyone," — these were the phrases 
oftenest upon His lips. How His abundant love, His 
whole-hearted forgiveness, His gracious dealings with 
publican and sinners rebukes the oft-times bigotry of 
some who claim Him as Lord and Master ! Measured 
by this high standard, how small are even the most 
spiritual of men and women; compared with His sacri- 
ficial acts, how insignificant the most generous of the 
churches appear. In the deepest sense the spirit and the 
principles of Jesus are measureless. The religion of 
His day was that of the stated feast, the stipulated 
tithe, the arbitrary service, the formal and stereotyped 
Pharisaism. Jesus came with His large and lovely 
outlook upon life, His deep and penetrating insight into 
human nature. He taught the giving of good measure, 
pressed down, shaken together and running over. In- 
stead of the measured mile standard He taught the 
nobility of the second mile; instead of stopping with 
forgiving one's enemy seven times, He multiplied that 
number by seventy, which was just another way of 



GOD MEASURING THE CHURCHES 143 

saying, every time you have the opportunity, extend 
forgiveness fully and gladly. In the garden He left 
the majority of His disciples at the outer edge. He 
took Peter, James and John a little farther with Him ; 
then, He Himself went farthest of all into the depths 
of the Gethsemane experience — a symbolic act. 

My brethren, it is not possible to weigh or measure 
infinite love. No canvas is large enough for Jesus 
Christ. Men have been trying for centuries to sum- 
marize the character of Christ in lecture, essay, and bi- 
ography; they have failed, or at the best, succeeded 
only partially. I recall the title of one of these multi- 
farious books with Jesus as theme — a title of becoming 
modesty and singular good taste: "Jesus, An Un- 
finished Portrait." "Unfinished" is here rightly used. . 
What artist, orator, preacher, essayist, philosopher, has 
appraised wholly that Great Soul, whether on canvas, 
in marble, or printed page? God be praised for so 
lofty an ideal, so perfect a standard, so sinless a life 
as He hath given unto the world in His beloved Son, 
Jesus — our "crystal Christ!" 

Why do we follow, like a flock of sheep, 

Tradition with a crook, 

Or leave the vastness of the calling deep 

To paddle in a brook; 

When on the hills of sunrise stands the Lord — 

Triumphant with a lifted flaming sword? 

Why, when upon our lips the great new name 

Waits eager to be said; 

When cloven tongues of Pentecostal flame 

Burn over every head: 

Do we build Babel towers to the sky 

From bricks and mortar, who have wings to fly? 



XI 

THE CHURCH IN THY HOUSE 
A Brief for the Family Altar 



Romans 16:5. 
And salute the church that is in their house. 

Colossians 4:15. 

Salute the brethren that are in Laodicea, 
and Nymphas, and the church that is in their 
house. 

Philemon 1 :2. 

And to Apphia our sister, and to Archippus 
our fellow-soldier, and to the church in thy 
house. 



XI 

THE CHURCH IN THY HOUSE 

Thrice in the New Testament allusion is made to the 
Church in the homes of believers. The first of these 
references is to Acquila and Priscilla, that interesting 
couple who often entertained Paul and who taught the 
eloquent Apollos the "way of God more accurately." 
In the sixteenth chapter of Romans the Apostle closes 
his lengthy letter by citing a long list of distinguished 
fellow-workers. He calls them by name and salutes 
them in Christ Jesus. He heads this notable list with 
that eminent husband and wife, Acquila and Priscilla. 
He bears witness that they jeopardized their own lives 
for his. For such loyalty he expresses his deep grati- 
tude and follows this with a salutation to "the church 
that is in their house." The second reference is to 
Colossians 4:15, where a certain Nymphia is remem- 
bered and "the Church in her house." The third is 
in the letter of Paul to Philemon, which consists of 
but a single chapter of twenty-five verses. In this brief 
epistle the Apostle paves the way for the restoration of 
a runaway servant, Onesimus by name. He beseeches 
Philemon to receive Onesimus no longer as a servant 
but more than a servant, a brother beloved. The salu- 
tation of this letter is a pen picture of a delightful 
Christian home of the first century. It is directed "to 
147 



148 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

Philemon our beloved and fellow-worker, and to Ap- 
phia our sister, and to Archippus our fellow-soldier and 
to the church in thy house." These three allusions to 
the church in the home are brimful of lessons for 
modern disciples of the Christ. 

WHAT IS THE CHURCH? 

What is the Church ? Certainly it is not the building 
save in a figurative use of the word. The building 
where the church gathers for public worship is the 
House of God, or the "meeting house" ; it is the church 
only in a symbolic sense. The Church is more than 
the edifice, greater than the structure, mightier than 
the cathedral. The Greek word for church means not 
"called out" as has sometimes been said, but simply 
"called together." It connotes a group of people com- 
ing together with a like purpose of mind and heart. 
In the eighteenth chapter of Matthew, Jesus said: 
"Where two or three are gathered together in My name, 
there am I in the midst of them." This is a fairly 
adequate description of a church. Wherever a group 
of people are gathered together in the name of Jesus 
Christ, there is a church, according to Matthew. The 
idea is developed by St. Paul who conceives of the 
church as the "body of Christ," a building of which 
Christ is the "chief Cornerstone," and also "the bride 
of Christ." 

FAMILY WORSHIP AND EARLY CHRISTIANITY 

It is a matter of more than passing interest that in 
the dawn of the Christian era much of the worship 
centered in the home or family life. A study of the 



THE CHURCH IN THY HOUSE 149 

New Testament, particularly Acts of the Apostles and 
the Epistles, indicates how widespread this custom 
was. To be sure we have an explanation at hand and 
we offer it easily and naturally. We say there were no 
public meeting places where the early Christians could 
meet with safety and convenience, hence the use of their 
homes for this purpose. That was often the case. 
Sometimes they met in caves in the earth, as the author 
of the Hebrew Epistle intimates; sometimes in an up- 
per room as at Troas, described in Acts the twentieth 
chapter; but oftenest the private residences of loyal 
disciples were used for the public services. It may 
be that the reference to "the Church in thy house," in 
the three texts cited is to the public gatherings in the 
private homes of followers of Jesus Christ. But the 
Christian families of that day had a Church in their 
home quite apart from the meeting of the brethren for 
public worship there. Those of "the way" were ac- 
customed to gather together in the family circle in the 
name of Jesus. This can be shown from different 
angles, but from none other so significantly as that of 
the observance of the Lord's Supper. 

An examination of Acts and the Epistles, leads us to 
believe that first century disciples observed the Lord's 
Supper in their homes and as a part of the daily meal. 
Bishop Lightfoot believed this practice continued for 
nearly a century. In the forty-sixth verse of the second 
chapter of Acts, after three thousand were obedient to 
the Gospel, we read that "day by day they continued 
with one accord in the temple and breaking bread at 
home." Now the term "breaking bread" here is un- 
doubtedly a reference to the Lord's Supper. In Acts 



150 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

the twentieth chapter it is written that Paul met with 
the disciples at Troas and upon the first day of the 
week were gathered together to "break bread." Here 
again is the same expression referring to the Lord's 
Supper. Just as the Passover was a family feast and 
was presided over by the father who explained its mean- 
ing, so we have good reason to believe that in the 
beginnings of Christianity the Lord's Supper was simi- 
larly celebrated in the homes of the Christians, and for 
a considerable period observed every day. Gradually 
the public observance which came to be on the first day 
of the week superseded the family observance, although 
not entirely for many years, as we may believe. 

It is a question whether by abandoning the family 
observance of the Lord's Supper we have not lost 
something helpful, desirable and thoroughly Christian. 
There is no reason why a Christian home might not at 
least upon occasions of family reunions, observe simply 
and helpfully the Lord's Supper, either at the begin- 
ning or the close of the family meal. The institution 
is a memorial. When Jesus instituted it He said, 
"This do in remembrance of Me," and St. Paul ad- 
vised, "As often as ye eat this bread and drink the 
cup ye proclaim the Lord's death till He come." There 
is something tender, beautiful and uplifting in the 
simple memorial of the Lord's Supper when kept by 
the faithful, whether in small or large gatherings. 
Might not its observance in the home, occasionally at 
least, make for a growth in grace and knowledge of 
the Lord, and a binding of the family together in Him? 
I think it might. 



THE CHURCH IN THY HOUSE 151 

THE DECLINE OF FAMILY WORSHIP A CALAMITY 

The decline of family worship is an ominous thing 
—one that chills the heart of thoughtful Christians 
everywhere. Fifty years ago, according to reliable 
testimony, it was the exception to find a Christian home 
without family worship. Today it is the exceptional 
Christian home that observes daily devotions. In tens 
of thousands of church members' homes there is no 
definite recognition of God — not even grace at the table. 
Need it be a ten days' wonder when young people from 
such nominally Christian homes grow up into material- 
istic and worldly ways? In such homes the children 
see and hear much pertaining to business, society, par- 
ties, motion pictures, and the daily round of tangible 
things. But they observe no leaning on the Everlast- 
ing Arms, they hear no calling on God in prayer, they 
see no recognition of His bounty. Lo ! the Bible rests 
unopened on the table or shelf ; the hymnals are buried 
beneath sheafs of popular sheet music! Is it strange 
the mind of youth in such environment comes to think 
of God as present only at church ; the Bible a book espe- 
cially for the minister, and religion something inci- 
dental or apart from active, busy and successful life? 
If our children grow up with no sense of the intangible, 
who must bear the blame? 

The restoration of the family altar is not an easy 
task. Perhaps it never can be set up just as it was 
fifty years ago. It is a question whether some forms 
of family worship once in use are desirable in this day. 
One would hesitate to prescribe any particular form 
of family worship adaptable to every home and in 



152 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

every circumstance. The principal thing is a recogni- 
tion of God. If by simple service at the table with 
readings from the Scripture or some aid to worship, in 
which the various members may participate and the 
minds of the family group turned Godward, then the 
great purpose has been achieved. 

THE RAINBOWS THAT HALO THE FAMILY ALTAR 

There is something exquisitely tender and withal 
ennobling that comes to a home by way of the family 
altar. In times of prosperity and joy it is good to praise 
God, to take Him into sweet and intimate account; to 
recognize Him gladly and with thanksgiving when 
the days are bright and happy and all is well. How 
lovely the strains of a favorite hymn at such a time; a 
song of jubilant praise! How blessed to gather about 
the piano and all join in the melody of the grand old 
hymn, "O Thou Fount of Every Blessing," or to lift 
the voices in the more modern but tuneful "Count Your 
Many Blessings, Name Them One by One." To re- 
member God in the days of peace and plenitude — there 
is something wholesome and lovely in that. To set 
up a family altar in the very beginnings of the home, 
when life is young and love is new and the home 
is rainbowed with romance and glory — that is a divine 
transaction ! 

Then when the gray days come into the home, as 
come they will, 'and the burdens fall heavy, who can 
appraise adequately the ministry of the family altar? 
When sickness comes, when disappointment's blasts 
storm the domestic citadel, when sorrow and suffering 
rest like a pall over the family, how unspeakably great 



THE CHURCH IN THY HOUSE 153 

and good is the altar in the home ! And when death 
invades the charmed circle and the four corners of the 
house are smitten, then the habitual recognition of God 
becomes a veritable way unto heaven as in the dream of 
Jacob, and the home is transfigured into a Bethel with 
God over all! May it not be that a reason why so 
many homes are undone and frenzied in grief is be- 
cause of the failure to recognize God daily? Perforce 
He seems afar off and aloof. But no stranger is He 
whom every day we worship and by the clear eye of 
faith behold! There is one verse in that justly famous 
hymn, "How Firm a Foundation" the truth of which 
can be realized only by practicing daily the presence 
of God. 

In every condition — in sickness, in health, 

In poverty's vale, or abounding in wealth, 

At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea — 

As your days may demand, so your succor shall be. 

WHY NOT A CHURCH IN OUR HOMES? 

It is doubtful if any other impression is more lasting 
on youthful minds than definite devotional habits in 
the home. The now sadly neglected custom of "re- 
turning thanks" at the table before the meal is to 
multitudes of little children the first gesture of the 
family toward God and is a thing of reverence and of 
faith to a child's tender nature. The presence at stated 
intervals of a ministerial guest in the home has 
wrought wonders in after years, and when a guest 
room is best known to the children as "the minister's 
room," the token is indeed a fortunate and favorable 
one. 



154 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

A noble Christian woman whose life has blessed 
thousands never ceased to cherish the memory of a 
very great treasure in her home. It happened that the 
silver Communion service of the Church was kept in 
that home; the tankard, the goblets, and the plates. 
The bread was made from "the finest of wheat," the 
red wine was pressed from the "choicest of grapes" — 
these too were prepared in that home and the prepara- 
tion was a kind of Sacrament. The joy and pride her 
father and mother took in giving their best to the care 
of the Communion Service, and the preparing of the 
loaf and fruit of the vine, became a holy memory to 
this little girl who watched it all with wondering eyes 
Is it a mystery or surprising to know that when that 
little girl grew to womanhood and went as a bride to 
grace her own home, it was to bring to the hearth-stone 
the ineffable glory of spiritual ideals? 

Dr. Russell H. Conwell, the distinguished Baptist 
minister and lecturer, says that in his opinion the 
greatest hour in a young man's life is the hour when 
he leads his bride into the home he has prepared for 
her, and as the two pass over the threshold the young 
man turns to her and exclaims: "This, my beloved, 
is our home, I prepared it for thee; I earned it for 
thee in the sweat of my brow. Pass thou in and reign 
here Queen of my heart and house." I can think of 
only one hour greater than this and that is the hour 
when a young couple begin their wedded life with 
prayer together for God's blessing to attend them in 
the wonder and glory of home making. 

At the time of the terrible influenza scourge in 191 8 
I made a call in a home which had for guest the grand- 



THE CHURCH IN THY HOUSE 155 

mother who resided in a distant State. This lovely 
woman, whose beautiful white hair was a crown of 
glory, proudly showed me a group picture of her oldest 
son's family. There were three attractive children, 
and the five made as blessed a circle as one could wish 
to see. The grandmother told me that that family 
was joyously Christian. Their home life was simply 
and delightfully devotional. They had a Church in 
their house. When the epidemic closed the Church in 
the little town where they held membership it deprived 
them of public worship only. On Sunday morning 
the five enjoyed a period of prayer and praise. The 
father took charge; the mother led in prayer; the 
oldest of the children read aloud from the Psalms; 
another offered prayer, and they all sang from the 
Hymnals. Each member of the family took part and 
the service, while brief, was impressive and joyful 
throughout. 

Compared with this, how poor religion's pride 

In all the pomp of method and of art, 

When men display to congregations wide, 

Devotion's every grace except the heart! 

The power incensed, the pageant will desert 

The pompous strain, the sacerdotal stole; 

But, haply in some cottage far apart, 

Will hear well pleased, the language of the Soul, 

And in His book of life the inmates poor enroll. 

My brethren, we should have a church in our homes ! 
The gatherings in the family circle should, at least once 
a day, be called in the name of Jesus, and for the pur- 
pose of recognizing Our Heavenly Father. If we 
have not yet set up some form of the family altar, let 
us agree to establish it now. If the altar was at one 



156 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

time in our homes but has been neglected and ignored, 
let us resolve to reestablish it at once. The House of 
God has its inspiring and fruitful place in the life of 
the world. Public worship cannot be superseded or 
replaced entirely by worship in the home. We have 
need for both; moreover, we can have both. 



XII 

THE LORD'S LEADING 
A Meditation on a Memorable Hymn 



Psalm 23. 

Jehovah is my shepherd; I shall not want. 

He maketh me to lie down in green pas- 
tures ; 

He leadeth me beside still waters. 

He restoreth my soul; 

He guideth me in the paths of righteous- 
ness for his name's sake. 

Yea, though I walk through the valley of 
the shadow of death, 

I will fear no evil ; for thou art with me ; 

Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. 

Thou preparest a table before me in the 
presence of mine enemies: 

Thou hast anointed my head with oil; 

My cup runneth over. 

Surely goodness and loving kindness shall 
follow me all the days of my life; 

And I shall dwell in the house of Jehovah 
for ever. 



XII 
THE LORD'S LEADING 

A MEDITATION ON A MEMORABLE HYMN 

"He Leadeth Me." — Psalm 23:2. 

The Psalms of Israel have been called "The Songs 
of a thousand years." Subsequent to the book of 
Law, the devout Jew loved the Psalter ; and along side 
of his Bible the Christian reverently places his hymn 
book. How impoverished the world would be without 
its Christian hymns! It is impossible to say which 
has accomplished the most good, the preaching or the 
singing of the gospel. Christianity is preeminently 
a singing religion. It is doubtful if there is a great 
truth of the Christian faith that is not associated in 
our minds with some impressive hymn. 
Is it God's love for the world as manifested in His 
great Gift? 

O Love Divine, that stooped to share 
Our sharpest pang, our bitterest tear? 

Is it the atonement? 

There is a green hill far away, 

Without a city wall : 
Where the dear Lord was crucified, 

Who died to save us all. 
159 



160 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

Is it the missionary passion? 

Bear the news to every land, 
Climb the steeps and cross the wave. 
Onward, 'tis the Lord's command, 
Jesus saves, Jesus saves. 

Is it comfort for the bereaved heart? 

Come, ye disconsolate, where'er you languish; 

Come, at the shrine of God fervently kneel; 

Here bring your wounded hearts, here tell your anguish, 

Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal. 

Is it submission and resignation to God's will? 

My Saviour, as thou wilt — 

may thy will be mine! 
Into thy hand of love 

1 would my all resign. 

Is it prayer? 

Sweet hour of prayer, sweet hour of prayer. 
That calls me from a world of care. 

Whatever the aspect of Christian truth, there is a 
hymn to extol it, a stanza to glorify it, a verse to 
memorialize it. From the many great hymns, one such 
is presented here for our study and profit. It is a hymn 
that has for its imagery the lovely pastoral metaphor 
of the most familiar of all the Psalms — the twenty- 
third; a hymn known to millions by the title "He 
Leadeth Me." 

The hymn was written by Professor J. H. Gilmore, 
who was born in Boston April 29, 1834, and died at 
Rochester, New York, in 191 9. He composed the 
hymn in 1862 in the very darkest period of the Civil 
War. The writing of it was purely an inspiration. 
Mr. Gilmore was at that time acting as supply in the 



THE LORD'S LEADING 161 

pulpit of the First Baptist Church in Philadelphia. 
One of his duties was to give a somewhat extended 
talk at the mid-week Prayer service. He commenced 
a series of expositions of the twenty- third Psalm, but 
in the first address he got no further than the words, 
"He Leadeth Me." That night he saw a depth of 
meaning in those words that he had never seen before. 
He spoke for half an hour on the one clause, "He 
Leadeth Me." After the meeting was over, Mr. Gil- 
more went to the home of a member of the church, 
accompanied by a number of friends who had attended 
the meeting. The little company sat up until late talk- 
ing about the blessed assurance of Divine leadership. 
During the conversation Mr. Gilmore took out his 
pencil and wrote on the back of an envelope "He 
Leadeth Me," just as it stands today, with one excep- 
tion ; the stanzas as originally written were of six lines. 
His wife sent the poem to the Watchman and Re- 
flector, a leading religious journal of that day. Wil- 
liam B. Bradbury, the composer, read the verses and 
at once recognized their merit. He took two lines off 
each stanza and added two others to make the chorus 
and set the words to music. From the very first the 
words and tune seemed inseparable. To quote a com- 
petent critic, "Few hymn composers have so exactly 
caught the tone and spirit of their texts as Bradbury 
did when he vocalized the gliding measures of 'He 
Leadeth Me.' " 

A study of this memorable hymn reveals the fact 
that the exalted theme is developed, and enriched, 
stanza by stanza, reaching "A glorious summit" in the 
fourth and last. 



162 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

The hymn rightly opens with the transcendent 
thought that the leading is of the Lord. 

He leadeth me, O blessed thought ! 

O words with Heavenly comfort fraught! 

Whate'er I do, where'er I be, 

Still 'tis God's hand that leadeth me. 

Thus the first line fixes the mind on Divine leader- 
ship and bids the weary soul rest securely in God. The 
Lord's leading is a favorite theme of the Bible writers, 
and the idea is presented and expanded under various 
figures. In Exodus 3 :2 it is written "And Jehovah 
went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead 
them the way, and by night by a pillar of fire to give 
them light." John Henry Newman employs felici- 
tously the familiar and eloquent figure in his "Lead 
kindly Light! amid th' encircling gloom." The meta- 
phor is impressive even though it is impersonal and 
the thought somewhat abstract. The twenty-third 
Psalm portrays the Lord's leading under the similitude 
of the Oriental shepherd who knows his sheep by name 
and goes before them providing green pastures and 
ample protection against their natural enemies. The 
imagery is attractive even to us moderns, and "thy rod 
and thy staff" a precious and comforting assurance. 
In this hymn, however, the Leader is contemplated not 
wholly as a shepherd, but as the Heavenly Father. 
The idea is fuller and farther advanced than the con- 
ception of God as revealed in the Old Testament. 
There God is first revealed as Creator with the idea of 
force uppermost, then as Ruler of the universe with 
the idea of law as supreme, and finally through the 
prophets of Israel as an Infinite Personality, a God of 



THE LORD'S LEADING 163 

justice, purity and righteousness. The thought here 
is of Christ who taught us by word and deed that the 
Heavenly Father knows and cares, and is not willing 
that the least of His children should perish. 

" 'Tis God's hand that leadeth." Surely these are 
words with Heavenly comfort fraught, words that have 
brought peace and comfort to many a troubled soul. 
When President Garfield was lying on a bed of suffer- 
ing from which he was not to rise, he heard his wife 
singing in an adjoining room, the words "Guide me, 
O Thou great Jehovah !" As he listened, the wan face 
of the stricken president lighted up radiantly, and to 
a watcher by his bedside he exclaimed, "Isn't it beauti- 
ful, isn't it full of comfort?" Some years ago Rud- 
yard Kipling was lying at the point of death in a New 
York hospital and all hope of his recovery had been 
abandoned. His nurse asked him with tender solicitude 
if there was anything he wanted. "Yes," he replied 
feebly, "I want, I want my Heavenly Father." When 
Alexander Campbell was dying, his wife bending over 
him, whispered: "The blessed Savior will go with you 
all the way." Mr. Campbell opened his eyes and ex- 
claimed: "That He will, that He will." Oh, blessed, 
thrice blessed is the man or woman who is able to say 
in deep conviction and with unfaltering faith, "He 
Leadeth Me." 

In the second stanza the thought is of life's changing 
scenes through which the Unchanging Leader leads on. 

Sometimes mid scenes of deepest gloom, 
Sometimes where Eden's bowers bloom, 
By waters still, o'er troubled sea 
Still 'tis God's hand that leadeth me. 



164* WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

This stanza is the most poetic of the four. The 
antithesis is striking and the phrases set in opposition 
were chosen with discrimination and an eye to form 
and color. What could be lovelier than "Eden's 
bowers"? The imagination fashions a garden of de- 
light where flowers bloom in profusion amid a tangle 
of vine and leaf ; a lovely spot where soft and fragrant 
breezes blow and the songs of birds fill the air with 
melody of the wildwood; and over all the sunlight 
pours a golden flood. Side by side with this Edenic 
scene is another and of "deepest gloom." The paeon has 
become a threnody, mirth gives place to lamentation, 
there is experience of barren gain and bitter loss. "By 
waters still"; here the poet borrows from the shep- 
herd's Psalm again. The scene is one of serenity, of 
pastoral beauty, and with peace brooding over all. 
"Troubled sea"; old ocean in the grip of a raging 
storm, breakers thundering against the rock-bound 
coast, a ship in distress, and sailors straining their eyes 
through the darkness searching vainly for a harbor 
light. Such are the diverse and different scenes sug- 
gested by these striking phrases. 

The strong and vivid contrasts of this stanza are 
fully warranted by the facts of life. The four seasons 
of the year mirror the seasons of the soul, and the 
varied experiences that distinguish our days. Verily 
we spend our years as a tale that is told, and no tale 
is worth the telling that does not involve life's endless 
variations. Like the changing landscape, so are our 
lives. The "Heaven kissing hill," the desert plain, the 
verdant meadow, and the dark forest of hidden peril, 
God has joined together the light and the shadow. 



THE LORD'S LEADING 165 

Both are very real; both are parts of an infinite plan 
and necessary to man's best growth. Moreover change 
and decay lose their terror in the presence of a Guide 
who changeth not, and One able to conduct us through 
the "valley of the shadow." Mr. Moody delighted to 
tell of a man who placed the inscription "God is Love" 
on a weathervane and in letters large enough to be read 
by passers-by. When someone chided the man with 
irreverence, saying, "Do you mean to publish to the 
world the belief that God is as fickle as the wind?" 
He answered, "No, not at all, I want people to know 
that I believe that God is love whichever way the 
wind blows." 

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but Jesus 
Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Bet- 
ter the changing scene and a Changeless Leader than 
bowers of perennial beauty and no one to guide us into 
the abundant life of the spirit. St. Paul was persuaded 
"That neither death nor life, nor angels, nor princi- 
palities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor 
powers, nor heights, nor depths, nor any other creature 
shall be able to separate us from the love of God which 
is in Christ Jesus our Lord." So amid the varying 
scenes from "Eden's bowers" to "deepest gloom," and 
"by waters still" and "o'er troubled sea," our God 
leads us on. 

In the third stanza the Leader becomes the Great 
Companion and goeth not ahead of us but at our side. 

Lord, I would clasp Thy hand in mine, 
Nor ever murmur or repine, 
Content, whatever lot I see, 
Since 'tis my God that leadeth me. 



166 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

In the first and second stanzas, God's hand steadies 
and guides. Here the tender and comforting thought 
is that He holds the hands of His child, companying 
with him in blessed comradeship. It is not necessary 
to explain so beautiful an allusion; the parental heart 
understands it thoroughly. Whoever has felt the clasp 
of a little hand in which there was trust and perfect 
confidence, understands the full import of the line 
"Lord, I would clasp Thy hand in mine." 

A distinguished American minister used to tell with 
deep emotion an incident which occurred when he and 
his little seven-year-old son were taking a trip together. 
They occupied the same seat on the train, the lad sitting 
next to the window, his face pressed against the glass 
watching the flying landscape ; the father next the aisle 
reading a magazine. Suddenly without warning, the 
train plunged into a tunnel blotting out the daylight 
instantly. Quickly the little fellow pressed his father's 
side, felt for his hand, and having found it, contentedly 
held it until the tunnel was passed and the darkness 
ended. The pith of this story is not that it is unusual 
but that it is a touching instance of a love and trust 
which every parent knows. 

The idea of companionship is dominant in this stanza 
and the Leader is contemplated not as going before but 
with us and at our side. To endure as seeing Him 
who is invisible is to walk with the Great Companion. 
The presence of a fourth Person in the fiery furnace 
with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, is more than 
an episode of Old Testament history. It is a Divine 
symbol, a token of "The Comrade in White." The 
consciousness of Divine Companionship stoutened the 



THE LORD'S LEADING 167 

heart of Peter in prison, imparted courage to Paul in 
the shipwreck that befell him on his voyage to Rome, 
supplied patience to Livingstone m darkest Africa, and 
nourished the faith of Gordon at Khartoum. Jesus is 
here. "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end 
of the world" is the most precious promise our Lord 
uttered. 

The fourth and final stanza carries the thought of 
the Lord's leading to the last lap of the journey. 

And when my task on earth is done, 
When by Thy grace the victory's won, 
E'en death's cold wave I will not flee, 
Since God through Jordan leadeth me. 

There is a certain somberness in the figure with 
which the hymn closes. Death is pictured under the 
similitude of a river with waters swollen and cold. The 
metaphor is a favorite with hymn writers generally, 
and its origin is easily traced. The river Jordan was 
the natural barrier between the children of Israel and 
the land flowing with milk and honey. The one-time 
popular "On Jordan's Stormy Banks" identifies the 
Promised Land with the Heavenly Home, the river of 
death "lying darkly between." John Bunyan in his 
vivid description of Christian and Hopeful struggling 
with the river and then gaining at last the shining 
shore, has had much to do in popularizing the figure. 
In "My Faith Looks Up to Thee" occurs the dismal 
line "death's cold sullen stream" and in another and 
a lesser known hymn the refrain is "No, the waters 
will not chill me, no the waters will not chill me, when 
I go down to die." One prefers of all the hymns of 
this character, "Shall we gather at the river" with its 



168 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

tender line "the beautiful, the beautiful river." Yes, 
"beautiful," but only so because One goeth with us 
Who is able to breast the wave. 

In the light of Christ's teaching the river of death 
loses its terror and becomes "Such a tide as moving 
seems asleep, too full for sound or foam." Our Great 
Companion goes with us all the way. The author of 
the Epistle to the Hebrews, avers that by the grace of 
God, Christ tasted death for every man. He went 
down into the grave but it was not able to hold Him. It 
is as though He spoke to us saying, "When thou passeth 
through the waters I will be with thee, and through 
the rivers, they shall not overflow thee." 

Thus beginning with the strong affirmation that it is 
the Lord who leads, then vividly contrasting the chang- 
ing scenes of this life through which the Changeless 
Leader leads, complete dependence upon the Great 
Companion is then acknowledged, and with a strain 
of victory the last lap of the journey is reached with 
the Lord still leading us into the unknown future. 
Listen now to this hymn as it moves in majestic rhythm 
like a noble river approaching the ocean and "turns 
again home." 

He leadeth me, O blessed thought, 

O words with Heavenly comfort fraught! 

What'er I do, where'er I be, 

Still 'tis God's hand that leadeth me. 



Sometimes mid scenes of deepest gloom, 
Sometimes where Eden's bowers bloom, 
By waters still, o'er troubled sea — 
Still 'tis God's hand that leadeth me. 



THE LORD'S LEADING 169 

Lord, I would clasp Thy hand in mine, 
Nor ever murmur or repine, 
Content, whatever lot I see. 
Since 'tis my God that leadeth me. 

And when my task on earth is done, 
When by Thy grace the victory's won, 
E'en death's cold wave I will not flee, 
Since God through Jordan leadeth me. 

The power of this hymn and its influence over the 
lives of men and women could be illustrated by many 
touching incidents. It has been the favorite hymn of 
hosts of Christian people; it has been sung at thou- 
sands of funeral services ; it has been read by many a 
shut-in with tear-dimmed eyes, and a great hope welling 
in the heart. Amid the awful suffering and sorrow of 
the Armenian massacres, this hymn brought a ministry 
of comfort and of healing. A young woman mission- 
ary of the American Board in Turkey, saw the depar- 
ture of hundreds of Armenians going into exile, and 
wrote the heart-rending description to an American 
friend. The poor persecuted Armenians were going 
to their death and they knew it. They could have 
purchased prolongation of life and freedom if they 
had denied their Lord; but that they never considered 
for a moment. The scene of their deportation was 
melting in the extreme, yet the poor tortured and loyal 
souls praised God and glorified the name of His Son.. 
Tears streamed down the faces of the men and women 
who were giving up their all for their faith. They 
clasped the hands of the Missionaries and prayed and 
wept over them. They all met in one final service of 
prayer and reading of the Scriptures, and at its close 
they raised their voices in the hymn "He Leadeth Me," 



170 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

and from the singing of these words went out and on to 
death and glory. 

"He Leadeth Me" is precious to me because it was 
the favorite of a beloved kinsman to whom I owe an 
unpayable debt. My dear kinsman was not a musician 
and his singing voice was not strong, but he was a 
sincere and loyal Christian and he loved the great 
hymns of the church. At service on Lord's day morn- 
ing this was one of the few hymns in which he in- 
variably joined. He was particularly fond of the 
chorus. As he went about his work he loved to sing 
this hymn softly and over and over again. Sometimes 
he sang it in the summer twilight sitting under the 
trees in front of the house, at peace with God and man. 
Sometimes he sang the first stanza and the chorus in 
the sitting-room when the long winter nights were on 
and the anthracite stove glowed like a ball of fire. 
There are times when I fancy I can still hear him 
singing the chorus of "He Leadeth Me"; singing it 
soft and low; singing it out of an unshaken faith and 
a hope which anchored his soul within the Veil; sing- 
ing it now in a nobler, sweeter strain, amidst the glory 
of the Father's Home and those loved long since and 
lost a while. 

He leadeth me, He leadeth me; 
By His own hand He leadeth me; 
His faithful follower I would be, 
For by His hand He leadeth me. 






XIII 

THE PEACE CHRIST GIVES 

The Nature of Jesus' Peace, and How and Why It 
Differs from the World's Peace 



John 16:33. 

These things have I spoken unto you, that 
in Me ye may have peace. In the world ye 
have tribulation : but be of good cheer ; I have 
overcome the world. 



XIII 
THE PEACE CHRIST GIVES 

Was there ever a stranger peace conference than that 
one of the upper room in Jerusalem nineteen centuries 
ago ? How far removed and how different this assem- 
bly from those famous peace conferences where the 
victors in battle have dictated terms to the conquered 
foe. Such councils have usually met in palatial rooms 
flanked by the spectacle of earthly power and glory. 
Pomp and pageantry have always been in evidence 
when nations have assumed the role of peace-making. 
How difficult it is for peace to emerge from an atmos- 
phere of war. Fuss and feathers smother; sword and 
saber intimidate; the kingdom of peace cometh not by 
violence. 

Gathered in the upper room in Jerusalem was a -^ 
group of men, plain, simple men, and with them their 
Teacher, Companion and Friend met together for the 
last time ere the great storm broke. The shadows were 
Hong and deep in that room, and they fell darkly across 
the little company who for nearly three years had been 
partakers of a great privilege. These men were anx- 
ious now and nervous. They were filled with appre- 
hension of impending peril. The signs and tokens 
were ominous ; a tragedy seemed confronting them, but 
just when and how and where, they knew not. Yet 
i73 



174 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

there was one in that room upon whom no shadow fell. 
He was calm, clear-eyed, composed and serene. He 
sat there talking with His friends, simply, tenderly, 
intimately. Surely no man ever spoke as Jesus spoke 
that night in the upper room. Such a conversation 
there never was before or since, and toward its close 
Jesus said : * These things have I spoken unto you that 
in Me you might have peace." 

What things? Why the great utterances that had 
preceded this statement. They are many of them and 
they distinguish His conversation that last night as 
stars of the first magnitude distinguish the Heavens. 
Listen to the music of these words : 

Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, be- 
lieve also in Me. In my Father's house are many man- 
sions; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I 
go to prepare a place for you. 

Have I been so long time with you, and dost thou not 
know me, Philip? He that hath seen Me hath seen the 
Father. 

Ye are my friends, if you do the things which I com- 
mand you. 

If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask 
whatever you will, and it shall be done unto you. 

This is my commandment, that you love one another, 
even as I have loved you. 

Peace I leave with you; My peace I give unto you; 
not as the world giveth, give I unto you. 



JESUS PEACE IS INWARD REST 

Jesus' phrase "My peace" is distinctly interesting 
and thought-inciting. JVhat is the peace which He 



THE PEACE CHRIST GIVES 175 

intimates is unlike the peace the world gives? I 
daresay that most of us are mistaken as to the nature 
of Jesus' peace. When we think of His peaceful life, 
is it to dream that His days and years were such, say, 
as the poet Wordsworth spent in the lovely lake region 
of England, quietly, serenely? If we have so thought 
we are in error. Nothing could be farther from the 
truth. For at least three years, the years of His public 
ministry, Jesus lived amidst untoward conditions and 
in almost constant controversy and opposition. He 
was subject to numerous disturbing and disagreeable 
experiences. His own family were unsympathetic with 
His mission. His kinsmen made His work more diffi- 
cult and were critical of much that He said and did. 
He was never free from the inconveniences of poverty. 
After His public ministry began, He seems never to 
have known the comforts of a home which He might 
call His own and to which He might retire for rest and 
reflection. His oft-quoted words — 'The foxes have- 
holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son 
of Man has not where to lay His head" — were not 
poetry or rhetorical figure, but soberest truth. The 
leading Churchmen of His day, who should have been 
His friends and supporters, were His bitterest enemies. 
They regarded Him as a heretic, an impostor, and a 
dangerous fellow-countryman. His was the heart- 
breaking experience to have the good that He did 
attributed to the power of evil. His chosen disciples 
gave Him a great deal of trouble, often disappointed 
Him, sometimes embarrassed Him and made His 
rugged way more rugged still. 

Yet, despite the annoyances, the turmoil, and the 



176 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

strife in which Jesus lived, the peace that passeth all 
understanding reigned in His heart. However turbu- 
lent His surroundings, inwardly He was at repose. It 
was Jesus* inner peace that made Him conqueror of 
outward unrest. He lived in harmony with the 
Father's will, and His conscience was as untroubled as 
the placid surface of a mountain lake when the wind 
has died down and a calm settles over all. No mem- 
ories of a misspent youth rose up to haunt Him, no 
feeling of remorse or sorrow of sin darkened the mir- 
ror of His spotless life. Thus He moved amidst the 
distractions, the disappointments, the conflicts and 
controversies of His day, calm, serene, self-possessed, 
at peace with God. The peace of Jesus, therefore, was 
an inward experience, not an outward environment, 
certainly not freedom from the burdens of life. The 
way He took was often painful, but His walk was one 
whose steps were in perfect alignment with the will of 
the Heavenly Father. 

THE WORLD'S PEACE IS OUTWARD CALM 

The world in general regards peace as an end, rather 
than a means. It conceives peace to be the cessation of 
war, stoppage of conflict, restoration of law and order. 
This is desirable, to be sure, but the bitter truth is that 
real peace is not attainable by mere outward adjust- 
ment. Moreover, peace, enduring peace, is not only 
the ending of one order that has been weighed in the 
balance and found wanting, it is the beginning of a 
new and better order in which justice, righteousness 
and brotherhood are to prevail. Alas! it is only too 
true that we are all to a greater or lesser degree affected 



THE PEACE CHRIST GIVES 177 

with the worldly idea of peace. We stress outward 

things, and look for the coming of the Kingdom 

through exterior processes. The world as yet has 

failed to make a lasting peace. Time and time again 

great peace councils have, by the very terms of peace 

the victor sought to impose, sown the seeds of future 

wars. 

Great Captains with their guns and drums, 
Disturb our judgment for the hour. 
But at last silence comes — 

Yes, silence comes, and just about the time when 
sober reflection and careful judgment is replacing the 
fever and excitement of war, great captains with their 
guns and drums disturb our judgment again; — disturb 
it with the roar of cannon and the loosing of the dogs 
of war upon a helpless society. The world professes 
to love peace, brotherhood and justice, but conquerors 
and victors are quick to make sure that the balance of 
power is on their side, and that armies and navies big 
enough to keep the peace are in training and ready for 
action. 

Few of us are free from the opinion that outside 
favorable conditions are able to produce of themselves 
inward repose. We think, for instance, that the pos- 
session of sufficient wealth to protect us from the an- 
noyances and anxieties attendant on meager incomes 
and heavy outlays would produce a peace, where now 
there is only distraction and anxiety. That it might 
help accomplish this is freely granted, that society as a 
whole ought to be protected from the fear of poverty 
as well as the handicap of it is likewise granted. Yet, 
even so, the most generous provisions, the most ample 



178 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

safeguarding of this kind cannot of itself produce 
inward calm. There are many living amid physical 
conditions that are favorable to rest, recreation and 
wide travel who are inwardly in a constant state of 
turbulency, turmoil, and strife. Tribulations, however, 
of one kind or another await the sons of men every- 
where, and wait us despite wealth, genius, and even 
godly living. These tribulations are inescapable, but 
they are conquerable. Jesus overcame them, and the 
same power that enabled Him to overcome, He assures 
us, will enable us to overcome. It is the inner peace 
that counts. Given the inner peace and the ideals and 
teachings of Jesus, and the result is a peace such as 
the world cannot give because the world has it not. 

Why is it that society is slow to accept Christ's 
peace? Why is it that individuals are prone to turn 
elsewhere for power, only to meet disappointment? 
Is it because we do not understand the nature of His 
peace? Possibly. But a better explanation is that we 
are not willing to receive His peace on the simple terms 
He offers it. It is not true that the peace of God is 
given without conditions, even though it be freely given 
and given to all men. l 'These things have I spoken that 
in me you might have peace." Ah, yes, the things 
spoken in that conversation at the table, we must not 
forget them. They are all-important, they are funda- 
mental. Summarized, these things are as follows — 
"Abide in Me." Let "My words abide in you." "Love 
one another even as I have loved you." "Keep My 
commandments." "Bear much fruit." "Bear wit- 
ness." "Ask and ye shall receive." "I have given you 
an example that you should do as I have done to you." 



THE PEACE CHRIST GIVES 179 

"Be of good cheer." The peace of Jesus Christ is an 
inward rest, but it is more, it is a way of life in which 
love, justice, mercy, forgiveness, find radiant demon- 
stration. 

"When he called upon men to follow him, to share 
his baptism and drink his cup," says W. E. Orchard, 
"He was not mocking them with impossible ideals. 
He was asking them to be as he was, to live for the 
same ends, to undertake the same task. Jesus invited 
men to his ethical and spiritual level. The blunting of 
this call by the declaration that Jesus can never be 
followed by mortal men is responsible for the low state 
of Christian discipleship." 

Candor compels the admission that the world's idea 
of peace is still influential in the churches. Here too, 
the emphasis is largely on outward conformity, the de- 
pendence on ecclesiastical and doctrinal regularity. 
These have been only too often the weapons of 
Christendom to enforce uniformity and promote ap- 
pearance of solidarity. The various denominations, 
after the fashion of nations, have their "war parties," 
their "jingoes" and "dollar diplomacy." These power- 
ful elements are intent on preserving traditional ideas 
and time-worn methods, by recourse to sectarian arma- 
ment and threat of excommunication or brand of 
heresy and stigma of unorthodoxy. Thus has the 
cause of Jesus' peace been betrayed oft-times in the 
house of the Master. Sectarian disarmament must 
take place among the denominations before the Church 
can ever have an influential voice and great prestige 
in the Peace Councils of the world. 



180 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

JESUS BESTOWS HIS PEACE DIFFERENTLY FROM THE 
WORLD 

The world is partial, prejudiced and class-conscious 
in its gift of peace. It exalts some by pulling down 
others. It enriches a few by impoverishing many. 
Jesus gives His peace to all who will accept Him. He 
draws no circles, builds no walls, makes no limitations 
as to caste, color, or character. His gracious invita- 
tion to peace, power and plenty is inclusive and all- 
encompassing. "Come unto Me all ye that labor and 
are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my 
yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am meek and 
lowly of heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls, 
for my yoke is easy and my burden is light." 

Jesus' gift of peace is Himself. He had nothing to 
give the world save Himself, and greater gift than 
self no one can give. The world balks at giving self, 
it bestows favors, offices, emoluments. Jesus gave 
Himself in His death on the cross. Dying there amid 
darkness and degradation He made peace, individual 
peace, possible for the least and lowliest of earth. 
There are many theories of the atonement, and follow- 
ers of Christ will never be agreed upon any one of 
these theories, but the glorious fact of the atonement 
is not disputable or under debate or question. Says 
St. Paul — "He is our peace." By His death there on 
that central cross Jesus led the way for enduring peace, 
not only between God and man, but between man and 
man. The peace councils of the world have not yet 
learned the way of the cross. Their way is still the 



THE PEACE CHRIST GIVES 181 

way of the sword and that is the way of death and 
darkness and suffering. 

Jesus' gift of Himself is also in life, the life of His 
free and victorious Spirit through which He abides in 
every heart which accords Him room. Most gifts 
lose sooner or later their power to thrill, to interest, 
to please, but not so this gift of Christ given freely to 
everyone who will receive Him. Whoso possesses the 
world's peace will thirst again, but whoso possesses the 
peace of Christ will never know the necessity for any- 
thing better or more satisfying. His is the peace that 
passes all understanding because of its exquisitely fine 
quality, its lastingness and satisfying nature. 

How impoverished the centuries would be if there 
were taken from them the lives of many humble and 
lowly who were filled with the peace of Jesus Christ. 
As for the mighty men who led in world-movements 
and helped to change the course of history for the 
better, Christ's peace ruled their lives. St. Paul knew 
that peace and it enabled him to establish the Christian 
faith in hostile communities, testify before kings and 
queens, and face lion-heartedly brutal mobs bent on 
putting him to death. Martin Luther knew this peace 
of Christ and amidst the wildest storms of controversy 
he stood undaunted and persevering in his mighty 
tasks. Abraham Lincoln possessed this peace and it 
taught him patience and kept him calm and sweet when 
rancor and contumely swirled around him as furious 
floods swirl around a massive pier. 

Oh, ye hosts who know only the world's peace ! Go 
get ye to the upper room and there learn the peace that 
is pure, just and holy — the peace that Christ gives to 



182 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

all; the peace for which a war-scourged world waits. 
For without His peace all plans and programs of dis- 
armament will be but as some fair dream which van- 
ishes with the morning and cannot be recalled. 



XIV 

OTHER SHEEP 

An Attempt to Appraise the Scattered Flock of God 
at Their Value in the Good Shepherd's Sight 



John 10:16. 

Other sheep I have, which are not of this 
fold: them also I must bring, and they shall 
hear my voice; and they shall become one 
flock, one shepherd. 



XIV 

#THER SHEEP 

If one were to take a pen and designate with a tiny 
star every reference in the Holy Scriptures to sheep 
and shepherds, the result would be an "inky way" 
from Genesis to Revelation ; with the stars most multi- 
tudinous in portions of the Psalms, parts of the 
Prophecies, and throughout the Gospels. The land of 
the Bible is the shepherd's own country where he lives 
with his flock, knows them by name, protects them, 
sustains them, and defends them from their natural 
enemies. One of the favorite names of the Old Testa- 
ment is Rachel, which means "ewe," and the phrase 
"Shepherd of Israel" as applied to Jehovah is exquisite 
poetry. The Shepherd's Psalm is a most appropriate 
name for the twenty-third Psalm and the pastoral scene 
it pictures is enchanting: the green pastures, the still 
waters, the valley of the shadow, the rod and the staff, 
the overflowing cup, the safety and comfort of the 
fold, who can forget the strength and beauty of such 
imagery ? 

Jesus was fond of this Shepherd figure and some of 
his notable parables are interwoven with pastoral 
imagery. It is an interesting fact, and not without its 
pathos, that as the shadows of the end fell upon His 
disciples, the Old Testament figure of the sheep of 
185 



186 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

God's pasture was often in His mind and on His lips. 
Thus, He comforted His disciples with the words, 
"Fear not little flock/' and in the time of imminent peril 
in the last winter of His life He spoke the words which 
John has recorded for us in the tenth chapter of his* 
Gospel. Throughout the eighteen verses Jesus varies 
the figure and enforces it in several ways. He speaks 
of Himself as the Good Shepherd and His followers 
as His sheep. He requires of them obedience and 
trust ; He promises that no one shall snatch them from 
out His hands. He makes it His concern to know them 
and to know the Father. From the thought of the 
sheep He passes to that of the sheepfold, of which He 
said He Himself is the door, and from the fold He pro- 
ceeds to describe the flock with the one shepherd. 
"Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold; them 
also I must bring, they shall hear my voice; and they 
shall become one flock, one shepherd." 

"OTHER SHEEP I HAVE WHICH ARE NOT OF THIS FOLD" 

This utterance of Jesus must have startled His hear- 
ers. "This fold" is of course the Jewish faith, and to 
the zealous Jew all others were outside the fold. It is 
difficult for us to understand the intense and bitter 
prejudice of the Jews of Jesus' day toward all others 
of alien faith and race. In their eyes all who were not 
children of Abraham were "Gentiles," "Heathen," 
"dogs," and "wolves." They believed themselves to 
be the especial objects of God's favor and the only ones 
who were to be the beneficiaries of His love and for- 
giveness. So extreme and fanatical were some of the 
Pharisaical groups that such a sentiment as this has 



OTHER SHEEP 187 

come down to us: "The spittle of a Jew is more 
precious in the sight of Jehovah than the life blood of 
a heathen." Prejudice shut out from Israel all foreign 
culture; no one could hope for eternal life who read the 
books of other nations. 

We stand aghast at such bigotry and yet withal there 
is not a religious body anywhere without some adher- 
ents who believe themselves to be the elect of God, and 
all others outside the true fold. It were well if we 
possessed a sense of humor and could see how very 
ludicrous some of our prejudices are. John B. Gough 
used to delight to tell a story of a minister who was 
preaching in Boston when he saw the Governor of the 
state coming up the aisle. Immediately he began to 
stammer and finally said : "I see the Governor coming 
in and I know you will want to hear an exhortation 
from him and I think I had better stop." Whereupon 
one of the old officials leaped up from a front seat and 
said, "I insist upon your going on with your sermon, 
Sir, you ought not to be embarrassed by the Governor's 
coming in. We are all worms ! All worms ! Nothing 
but worms!" This interruption stirred the minister 
deeply and he replied heatedly, "Sir, I would have you 
to understand that there is a difference in worms." 
Yes, the difference — always the difference between peo- 
ple, races, religions — the difference, — ah, that's the 
rub! Why stress the difference? 

If we are to be Christian we shall have to get away 
from the belief that "the only good Indian is a dead 
Indian"; that the only real white man is the Anglo- 
Saxon; that "the negro is a beast"; that the Japanese 
are all dishonest; that the Chinese are "a yellow peril" ; 



188 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

that the Jew is conspiring to dominate the world and 
lord it over all. If the Jew's prejudice toward the 
Christian has been bitter and long-standing, then so 
has the prejudice of the Gentile toward the Jew been 
terrible in intensity and almost unaccountable in per- 
sistence. Only recently the Jew has been the object of 
a new outburst of fury; the controversy waxes hot and 
the ancient feud continues. Racial pride and arrogance 
is widespread and deep-rooted. We Americans of all 
people should be able to take a broad and charitable 
attitude toward peoples of alien birth, but alas, preju- 
dice toward the "foreigner" in America is not the ex- 
ception but the general rule. The eccentricities of 
genius of whatever race dispose us to be tolerant, even 
indulgent, but the same traits in a peddler, an organ 
grinder, or proprietor of a fruit stand, move us to fresh 
diatribes against the Italian, the Greek, the Pole. We 
need to take to heart the admonition of Professor 
Steiner: "Don't let one smell of garlic put a whole 
army of Christians to flight." 

"Other sheep . . . not of this fold." That is to 
say, Jesus has sheep not in the recognized fold. In- 
terpreting this statement in the light of His ministry, 
it can only mean that all who seek after God and walk 
in such light as they have are His sheep, and eventually 
He will bring them all to Himself. When it became 
known to Peter that the Gentiles were included in the 
gracious invitation of Christ, he said, "Of the truth I 
perceive that God is no respecter of persons, but in 
every nation he that feareth Him and worketh right- 
eousness is acceptable to Him." Moreover, Paul, in 
Romans 3 :i4, affirms that those not having the law 



OTHER SHEEP 189 

are a law unto themselves. "Other sheep!" — How 
these words so true, so mellow of spirit, ought to 
enlarge the horizon of our souls. The field is the 
world. All the tribes, tongues and peoples come within 
the scope of God's great love. He taught us not to 
think meanly of any man or woman, whether black or 
white or yellow, and of whatever social stratum. He 
taught us to look out upon the masses of humanity as 
objects of God's love and of the ministrations of all 
those who have accepted the Christ. 

There's a wideness in God's mercy, 

Like the wideness of the sea; 
There's a kindness in his justice, 

Which is more than liberty. 

For the love of God is broader 
Than the measure of man's mind; 

And the heart of the Eternal 
Is most wonderfully kind. 

"THEM ALSO I MUST BRING, AND THEY SHALL HEAR 
MY VOICE" 

It is the will of our Lord that His other sheep which 
are not of the fold be brought to Him, that they may 
hear His voice and own His shepherdship. The 
method of the bringing of Christ's other sheep is of 
the utmost importance. When Jesus spoke these 
words, the thought of the approaching cross must have 
been in His mind. Aye, that Cross would be the means 
of bringing hosts upon hosts to know the Good Shep- 
herd and to follow whithersoever He should lead. In 
the twelfth chapter of John's Gospel it is recorded 
that certain Greeks sought out Philip and asked him, 



190 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

saying, "Sir, we would see Jesus." When this request 
was made known to the Master He was profoundly 
moved ; perhaps He saw in that request the first fruits 
of the coming of all nationalities to own Him Lord of 
Lords and King of Kings. Then it was that He 
uttered that notable prediction : "And I, if I be lifted 
up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself." 

The "other sheep" are to be brought unto the shep- 
j herd by human instrumentalities. This is the Divine 
plan. Obedience to this command converts the church 
into a missionary enterprise. Jesus first sent out the 
twelve disciples; then the seventy; and just before His 
Ascension He gave the church its great commission, 
saying, "Go, teach all nations." The very charter of 
the church is its commission to make other disciples. 
The book of Acts is full of power and glory and ex- 
traordinary triumphs because it is a record of the early 
( church at work carrying out the commission. If 
Christendom had kept this great goal in view and 
regarded the church as a means, not as an end, — in 
place of the denominational rivalries, senseless con- 
troversies, and costly competitions, — this great mission- 
ary spirit would have swept over the peoples of other 
nations with power and wonder and saving grace, and 
the great World War would have been an impossibility. 

"Other sheep." Does this obligation rest lightly or 
heavily upon the churches ? Truth compels the answer 
that a host are not conscious of such an obligation. 
For it is to the churches that we must look, both for 
the material resources and the dedicated life, and in 
both instances the supply is meager. The great body 
of Christians give about thirty-two cents a year per 



OTHER SHEEP 191 

capita for the bringing of these other sheep to know 
the Good Shepherd. Young men for the ministry are 
difficult to find, the most capable young manhood of 
our churches is answering the call of the commercial 
world and not of the mission field or definite Christian 
leadership. There are great churches in America with 
memberships running into the thousands, worshiping 
in magnificent temples, who have not given to the min- 
istry or the mission field a young man or woman for 
many a year. Somehow this obligation of other sheep 
does not rest upon us as it rested upon Jesus. He 
wept over Jerusalem ; not many Christians are weeping 
over New York, Chicago or Detroit. He looked out 
over the multitude and was moved with compassion. 
We, His twentieth century disciples, are prone to look 
on the multitude with derision, sometimes with con- 
tempt, often with a kind of a blase indifference. Jesus 
detected the faintest flicker of faith in some poor out- 
cast and observed it with joy; we are often scornful 
of those of feeble faith, and inclined to doubt their 
sincerity and deem them doomed to failure. 

Jesus' other sheep are everywhere, and among all 
peoples and all ranks of society. These He must bring 
and He must bring them through His disciples ; unless 
they are brought that way they may not come at all. 
Given a follower of Christ who has caught the great 
vision and bears the love of God in his heart for all 
peoples, who cannot rest until he has done all he can 
to make these people know the new life in Jesus Christ, 
and such a person plus the Divine Spirit becomes im- 
measurably a power for God and man. 



192 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

"and they shall become one flock, one 
shepherd" 

It is worth remarking that the Revised Version 
translates not "one fold" but "one flock.' ' Why the 
change? Professor Alfred Plummer, the distinguished 
English scholar, says of this change : "Few corrections 
made in the Revised Version are more important than 
this. The mistake originated in Jerome's translation, 
where we have the same Latin word to represent two 
different Greek words. Wyclif followed him; and, 
although Tyndale and Coverdale corrected the error, 
the Authorized Version unfortunately followed Wyclif. 
Christ says nothing about there being one fold, which 
would imply uniformity: what He promises, and en- 
courages us to work for and to pray for, is "one flock," 
in which there may be large measures of diversity along 
with the essential unity belonging to one and the same 
Shepherd. 

"It is impossible to estimate the mischief that has 
been done by this unhappy substitution of 'fold' for 
'flock' in this important text. Throughout the 
Middle Ages, few people in Western Europe knew 
Greek, and Jerome's Vulgate led them to believe 
that Christ had used the word 'fold' in both places, 
and that He had inculcated a doctrine, which the 
change of word was perhaps intended to exclude. 
The doctrine, that the sheep not in the fold must be 
brought in until there is one fold, with all the sheep 
penned within it, gave immense support to the 
claims of the Roman Catholic Church to be the one 



OTHER SHEEP 193 

church, outside which there is no salvation. What 
Christ says is that those outside the then existing 
fold, equally with those who were in the fold, shall 
become one flock, of which He is the Shepherd. 
Christ had come to break down, 'the wall of par- 
tition' between the Jewish Church and the GentilesJ 
In the gospel, the distinction between Jew and Gen- 
tile was to cease, and the salvation which had been 
offered first to the Jew, became the common in- 
heritance of all." 

For hundreds of years divisions among Christians 
has been a thing of scandal. In England there are 
about two hundred and eighty kinds of Christians; in 
America around one hundred and fifty. There are f 
seventeen branches of the Methodist family, twenty- 
two of the Lutherans, eight of the Catholic, thirteen 
of the Baptist, twelve of the Presbyterian and six of 
the Adventist. The effect of such divisions upon the 
mind of the people is at its best confusing, and at its 
worst demoralizing. The first great stride toward the 
reunion of Christendom is a united Protestantism. 
The Evangelical churches have much in common. 
Their agreements are vastly more than their differ- 
ences. Protestantism is virtually one in its conception 
of God and of its revelation in Jesus Christ; in the 
power and reign of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the 
leaders; in the nature and mission of the church; in 
the place and potency of the Holy Scripture; in the 
necessity of the new birth and the power of an endless 
life. The things that divide Protestantism are the 
lesser and unimportant matters. For the greater part 



194 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

they are accretions of human devise, nonessential and 
divisive. Too long have the differences among Protes- 
tants been magnified .and the agreements minimized. 
The hour is fully here to reverse this order, to minimize 
the differences .and magnify the agreements. 

Protestantism has something to learn from Catholic- 
ism. Among Catholics there is little duplication of 
churches, no overlapping of work, no competition be- 
tween the churches. In Protestantism there is a serious 
duplication, frequent competition and much over- 
lapping, — the result is a waste of energy, a duplication 
of activity, and misuse of vast sums of money. 

It was my pleasure once to preach in a union meet- 
ing in a community where the churches are strong and 
vigorous. Four congregations united and for two 
weeks we were one flock, and one shepherd. Protes- 
tantism was united in that community. Methodists, 
United Brethren, Presbyterians, and Disciples entered 
into blessed oneness of worship and interest. On the 
last Sunday afternoon of the meetings all united in 
an observance of the Lord's Supper. It was impres- 
sive, inspiring, and unific. The comment of a gentle- 
man of a religious body other than my own is inter- 
esting. Said he, "I've been thinking that if it is 
possible for our four churches to be united for two 
weeks like this, it is possible — if not now, some day — 
to be united in this close way all the time." And this 
is what many are thinking these days. But we will not 
be able to make this great stride toward a united 
Protestantism until we manifest the spirit and view of 
Jesus in this passage, "Other sheep I have which are 
not of this fold." Conscientious seekers after God in 



OTHER SHEEP 195 

this and other lands, whatever may be their degree of 
enlightenment or denominational barriers, are included 
in this Godlike affirmation. 

Soon shall the slumbering Morn awake 
From wandering Stars of Error freed, 

When Christ the Bread of heaven shall break 
For saints that own a common creed. 

The walls that fence his flock apart 

Shall crack and crumble in decay, 
And every tongue and every heart 

Shall welcome in the new born day. 

Then shall his glorious church rejoice 

His word of promise to recall — 
One sheltering fold, one Shepherd's voice, 

One God and Father over all! 

Let us hope and pray that the poet's dream may be 
realized, that the Master's prayer be answered — and 
more; let us devote ourselves to this unfinished pro- 
gram of Jesus with a zeal that shall amount to a holy \ 
passion. 



XV 

WHEN DEEP CALLETH UNTO DEEP 

A Never-To-Be-Forgotten Day in the Lives of Four 
Fishermen 



Luke 5:1-11. 

Now it came to pass, while the multitude 
pressed upon Him and heard the word of God, 
that He was standing by the lake of Gen- 
nesaret; and He saw two boats standing by 
the lake : but the fishermen had gone out of 
them, and were washing their nets. And He 
entered into one of the boats, which was Si- 
mon's, and asked him to put out a little from 
the land. And He sat down and taught the 
multitudes out of the boat. And when He had 
left speaking, He said unto Simon, Put out 
into the deep, and let down your nets for a 
draught. And Simon answered and said: 
Master, we toiled all night, and took nothing: 
but at Thy word I will let down the nets. 
And when they had done this, they inclosed 
a great multitude of fishes; and their nets 
were breaking, and they beckoned unto their 
partners in the other boat, that they should 
come and help them. And they came, and 
filled both the boats, so that they began to 
sink. But Simon Peter, when he saw it, fell 
down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from 
me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For 
he was amazed, and all that were with him, at 
the draught of the fishes which they had 
taken; and so were also James and John, sons 
of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. 
And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from 
henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when 
they had brought their boats to land, they 
left all, and followed Him. 



XV 
WHEN DEEP CALLETH UNTO DEEP 

It was a never-to-be-forgotten day in the lives of 
four fishermen. The scene is the shore of the Sea of 
Galilee in the early morning. Two boats are drawn 
up on the beach, and nearby the fisher- folk are busy 
washing their nets. All night they have toiled, and 
not a single fish did they catch. Now it is morning, 
and all that the men have to show for their night's 
work are the empty and bedraggled nets, their weary 
bodies and heavy eyelids. 

Does such a scene have any particular meaning for 
us? Have we anything in common with those fisher- 
men on the shores of Galilee that morning nineteen 
centuries ago? I venture to say, much in every way. 
The incident is eloquent with the token that failure 
may result, despite our best efforts; that patience, 
industry and skill do not and cannot invariably bring 
success. Those Galilean fishermen were not amateurs ; 
they knew that the night was the best time for fishing ; 
they were familiar with the parts of the lake where fish 
were most likely to be; they knew how to cast their 
nets skillfully and draw in their catch warily. Yet 
withal, their night's toil had been in vain. 

Thus it is with men and women everywhere, and 
quite apart from degree of culture, rank or possession. 
199 



200 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

We are of the same clay as those Galilean fishermen. 
We too must know what it is to invest our all and 
apparently fail. Toil, patience, skill, we freely give, 
and apparently without results. It is the lot of the 
teacher, the parent, the merchant, the tradesman, the 
farmer, to met the baffling fact that futility sometimes 
rewards their best laid plans. It is indeed this very 
experience that tests the metal of manhood and runs 
a dividing line between the faint-hearted and the 
dauntless. 



JESUS CONVERTS SIMON S BOAT INTO A PULPIT 

Thus it happened that while the fishermen were 
washing their nets, Jesus, accompanied by a throng, 
came that way. Much of His ministry was along the 
shores of Galilee, and a goodly part of it took place 
on that famed little lake. As usual the people clamored 
to hear Him, the throng pressed Him sorely. To 
escape the crush, He stepped into Simon Peter's boat, 
and having asked that the owner push out a little way 
from the land, sat down in the boat, and from that 
pulpit taught the people. When one gets thus far into 
the narrative he comes face to face with the great law 
of Christian service namely — The stewardship of life. 
Whatever we yield to God, He will use, whether it be 
small or great. Whatever we withhold from Him, 
however vast in potentialities, God cannot use. Our 
usefulness depends then, not upon what we possess, 
but what we surrender to the Christ of our souls. 

There is no dearth of talented people in the world; 
brilliant folks are plentiful; but there is a woeful lack 



WHEN DEEP CALLETH UNTO DEEP 201 

of men and women who have laid their all, much or 
little, upon the high altar of service. Was it not Mr. 
Moody, who when criticized by a cultured gentleman 
for his ungrammatical English, pointedly retorted: 
"Very well, what definite Christian use are you mak- 
ing of your faultless diction?" Precisely that is the 
test for us, everyone. Not what we have, but what 
use we make of our attainments ; — that is the question, 
A house, an automobile, a good singing voice, a talent 
for public speaking, an interesting and entertaining 
way with children, an engaging and influential person- 
ality — all of these dedicated to Christian ideals and the 
progress of the Kingdom of God will yield abundant 
fruits, some thirty, some sixty, and some an hundred- 
fold. Jesus used Peter's boat, and His Spirit today 
will employ with uncommon fruit fulness, every pos- 
session, every talent yielded unto Him. Blessed is he 
who, perceiving the Divine presence, exclaims : "Take ! 
Fill! Use!" 

There are strange ways of serving God; 

You sweep a room or turn a sod, 

And suddenly, to your surprise, 

You hear the whirr of seraphim 

And find you're under God's own eyes 

And building palaces for Him. 

DEEP CALLETH UNTO DEEP 

The teaching at an end, Jesus turns to Simon Peter. 
"Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a 
draught," he commands. How splendid the spirit; 
how stimulating the force of the words, — "Put out 
into the deep." There is a tang in the thought Let 
us be honest; we are prone to hug the shore. We 



202 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

prefer the "safety-first" method. We like much to 
dilly-dally amidst the shallows and the shoals. Espe- 
cially are we so minded after one experience on the 
deep where naught but failure was our lot. Ah, we 
know, we know! We undertook with fear and 
trembling an enterprise that called for courage and 
persistence. We failed, and with that failure our ardor 
was completely cooled. We agreed, for instance, to 
take a class of young men and instruct them in the 
Holy Scriptures. It was a big undertaking, but we 
plunged in and struggled bravely. We gave what we 
believed to be our best and we failed. We could not 
interest the young men. We seemed unable to grapple 
with the big problem. We felt powerless in our defeat. 
We came away from that failure with our minds fully 
made up. We said to ourselves — and at the time we 
meant it — "Never again will we undertake anything 
of that kind." We preferred the shallows rather than 
the deep. We chose the shore with which we were 
fairly familiar, rather than the great deep which we 
did not know; and then right on the heels of such a 
resolution came the challenge to continue with that 
group of young men and to give ourselves with re- 
newed vigor to the mastery of the undertaking. "Put 
out into the deep and let down your nets for a 
draught." Risky? Certainly. Dangerous? Possibly 
so; but likewise rich in possibilities. There is nothing 
to be caught along the shore, but far out in the deep 
the prizes of life are awaiting the coming of the ven- 
turesome and the brave. 

God is constantly calling us to put out into the deep, 
and this call to our souls is as deep calling unto deep. 



WHEN DEEP CALLETH UNTO DEEP 20S 

Here are the Holy Scriptures. When it comes to 
constant and diligent study of their great contents, for 
the greater part we have not put out into the deep. 
Our knowledge of the Bible is small and largely sur- 
face. It is the Book everybody praises and few read. 
We can quote John 14 : 1-6, Romans 8 : 28, the twenty- 
third Psalm, and the Beatitudes ; but there are mountain 
peaks we have not ascended, and great unexplored 
areas of Scriptural truth. We need to put out into 
the deep of these old and time-tested writings. God 
challenges us to search the Scriptures diligently; to 
read whole books at a single sitting; to compare Scrip- 
ture with Scripture; to commit many a passage to 
memory. Most of us believe in prayer, but only a few 
are acquainted with the real heart of communion with 
the Heavenly Father. We have been accustomed to 
"say prayers' ' and to pray occasionally when the need 
seemed to be especially urgent ; but only here and there 
are those who are able to say with Jacob in the in- 
tensity of his struggle with the mysterious wrestler,, 
"I will not let Thee go unless Thou bless me." Oh! 
we are all under the domination of the shore and the 
shallows, where it is smooth sailing and commonplace. 
Put out, O! slow of heart, and sluggish of spirit; put 
out, where the waters are of unplumbed depth, "too 
full for sound or foam!" 

CHRIST THE COMMANDER 

Simon Peter's answer is wistful, and it is also the 
soul of loyalty. "Master," he replied, "we toiled all 
night and took nothing; but at Thy word I will let 
down the net." Now, there is vastly more in these 



204 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

words than a careless reader will see. Simon Peter 
was a fisherman and a sailor; Jesus of Nazareth was 
a carpenter and a landsman. If there is one thing 
above all others that a sailor holds in contempt, it is 
the ignorance of the average landsman of the sea and 
the things that pertain to sea- faring life. What does 
a landsman know about a "spar," the "capstan," the 
"halyards," or the various "masts" and "riggings"? 
What is the difference between a "barque" and a 
"schooner," a "brig" and a "brigantine" ? Which side 
is "starboard" and which "port"? How little a 
landsman knows the vocabulary of the sailor. Simon 
Peter and his seasoned fellow fishermen ought to know 
better than a carpenter, the best time and places for 
fishing. And yet this Galilean with whom the fisher- 
man had only a slight acquaintance up to this time, 
presumes to give orders, and to take command of that 
fishing boat "Put out into the deep, Simon, and let 
down your nets for a draught." Such is the order, and 
a landsman gives it. What audacity. Will Captain 
Simon obey the order? It is a trying ordeal; it is a 
severe test The fisherman answers, and his reply is, 
all things considered, surprising. For one thing it is 
full of humility ; for another, of obedient faith. "Mas- 
ter, we toiled all night and took nothing; but at Thy 
word we will let down the nets." It should be observed 
that the word "Master" here is not the same word 
usually translated "Rabbi" or "Teacher." This word 
is peculiar to Luke, and means "Commander," "Ar- 
ranger," or "Director." Thus it comes to pass that 
Simon Peter, Captain of his fishing smack, retires 



WHEN DEEP CALLETH UNTO DEEP 205 

from command, so to speak, and receives orders from 
Jesus, the carpenter. 

Thou hast not measured strength as we 
Sea-faring men that toil. And yet — 
Once more, once more at Thy strange word, 
Master, we will let down the net! 

"At Thy word I will let down the nets." Aye! that 
was a noteworthy answer, and it rebukes us of today, 
who are loath to acknowledge fully the Pilot of our 
lives, recognizes His authority, and accept His com- 
mand. If we but took Jesus at His word, what differ- 
ent persons we would be ; power would supplant weak- 
ness, love subdue hate, and our days become dynamic 
for good beyond computation. Simon accepts orders 
from his new Captain, and lo! the memorable issue 
thereof. Back again goes the little boat to the deep 
places, perhaps the very water where the four had 
toiled all night without success, and there Simon and 
his partner let down the nets. What is the use ? Noth- 
ing will come of it. Why waste the time ? Yes, — but 
wait; the nets are heavy as lead; pull away. What 
have we here ? Why, so great a catch that the nets are 
on the point of breaking, and it becomes necessary to 
call the men in the other boat to help haul in the 
multitude of fishes. The haul is so great that the little 
craft is in peril of sinking. See the astonishment of 
the fishermen. Look at their faces. Observe the 
amazement and the awe ! Oh ! it is a wonderful catch, 
and when Simon Peter sees the great number of fishes, 
he falls down at Jesus' knees saying : "Depart from me, 
for I am a sinful man, O Lord." Peter did not want 
Jesus to go. He did not mean just what he said, save 



206 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

with regard to his sins. It was like him though to say 
what he did; it was an impulsive speech, but Jesus 
understood it perfectly. James and John, partners 
with Simon, — and probably Andrew, though he is not 
named, — were likewise amazed and impressed, and of 
a right they should have been. Here in their very 
midst was One who spake with authority, and whose 
personality was radiant, and in whom were new and 
surprising forces for good. Here was One who could 
bring success from failure and turn darkness into 
light. Surely it was worth much even to be with Jesus. 
Yea, it was worth giving up all to follow such a 
Leader, so able a Captain. 

THE FOUR CALLED TO A NEW CAREER 

There is that fishing boat piled with fishes such as 
possibly no other night of toil had ever won. Simon 
Peter and his partners received and accepted their new 
life call. "J esus said unto Simon, 'Tear not; from 
henceforth thou shalt catch men." Now this predic- 
tion of Jesus is a flash-light upon the Christian career. 
Observe the phrase closely. Men and fish are con- 
trasted. Here is the great catch of fish, and while the 
fishermen are marveling over it, Jesus tells them that 
their greatest success is to be as catchers of men. But 
the meaning of the Greek word throws still further 
light on their future career. Literally, the sentence is 
— "Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt take dive." 
Is not the picture vivid ? There are the multitudes of 
fish; you see them flopping about, — a great pile of 
squirming, wriggling fish ; but even as you look, already 
life is beginning to leave their bodies and they are less 



WHEN DEEP CALLETH UNTO DEEP 20? 

active than when you first looked. In a little while 
death will have stilled them everyone. They were 
caught to die. And thus Jesus tells the wondering 
fishermen — "Henceforth you shall take alive." That 
is to say, "you will win men and women, and save 
them to that life which is life indeed — the super- 
abundant life." And surely the fishermen perceived 
some hint of the deep meaning in Jesus' words, for 
when they had brought the boat to land, they left all 
and followed Him. An accomplished student of the 
Gospels holds that there were three stages in the 
discipleship of the mea that Jesus called to be with 
Him. First, as simple believers in Him as the Christ 
and His occasional companion; second, the abandon- 
ment of secular occupations and a constant attendance 
on His person; third, when called especially to be 
Apostles. This incident marks the second stage of the 
calling of the four fishermen to be followers of Jesus 
Christ. They leave their nets, their boats, their all, 
and follow Him. The love of the lake, the habits of 
years cannot hold them back. The fishermen are now 
Apostles in the making. 

We have in these eleven verses of the fifth chapter 
of Luke a picturesque account of Jesus among the 
every-day things of life. There amidst the nets and 
the boats and the familiar occupations, the Son of God 
gave a new meaning, and imparted a new power to the 
lives of four fishermen. Thus it is that spiritual power 
is accessible whilst we are busy with the every day 
affairs of life, — the farmer in the field, the woman 
in the kitchen, the blacksmith in his shop, the merchant 
behind the counter, the conductor on the train. Thus 



208 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

it is that God visits us here and now to turn defeat 
into victory, to scatter darkness with light, and to over- 
come evil with good. Deep calleth unto deep at this 
very hour. God's spirit speaks to our spirit, rebukes 
our surface thinking and our surface living, and 
through Christ He calls upon us to "put out into the 
deep." Have we not tarried long enough on the beach 
and by the shore? Are we not done with the shallow 
waters, where to be safe is to be useless? Is it not 
high time for us to acknowledge the new Captain and 
bid Him command our lives, even as He commanded 
Peter's sailing vessel that memorable day on Galilee? 
Yea, and more, bid Him pilot us "over life's tempestu- 
ous sea." 

Jesus calls us o'er the tumult 
Of our life's wild, restless sea, 
Day by day His sweet voice soundeth, 
Saying, "Christian follow me." 

As of old, Apostles heard it 

By the Galilean lake, 

Turned from home and toil and kindred 

Leaving all for His dear sake. 

Jesus calls us from the worship 
Of the vain world's golden store, 
From each idol that would keep us, 
Saying, "Christian, love me more." 



XVI 

WHAT AND WHERE IS THE HOLY 
SPIRIT? 

The Ministry of the Comforter or "God in Action" 



John 14:16. 

And I will pray the Father, and He shall 
give you another Comforter, that He may be 
with you forever. 

John 15:26. 

But when the Comforter is come, whom I 
will send unto you from the Father, even the 
Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the 
Father, He shall bear witness of me. 

John 16:7. 

Nevertheless I tell you the truth : it is expe- 
dient for you that I go away; for if I go not 
away, the Comforter will not come unto you; 
but if I go, I will send Him unto you. 



XVI 

WHAT AND WHERE IS THE H#LY SPIRIT? 

Is there any other Biblical term more misunderstood 
than the phrase "The Holy Spirit" ? What or who is 
the Holy Spirit ? How define, explain or describe the 
Holy Spirit? A great many devout Christians are 
uncertain as to the nature and ministration of the Holy 
Spirit. It is not surprising, therefore, that the man 
in the street is perplexed by the term. Moreover, a 
great deal has been written of a speculative character 
pertaining to this subject. Arbitrary distinctions have 
been made; mystical meanings discovered, and the re- 
sult has been the darkening rather than the clarifying 
of the theme. I venture to say that any attempt to 
distinguish between "The Spirit of God," "The Spirit 
of Christ," and "The Holy Spirit" is unwarranted and 
confusing in the extreme. The three phrases are in 
essence one; they are of God; they may be used inter- 
changeably or synonymously. In this study a threefold 
consideration of the "Comforter" is proposed: first, 
the meaning of the Comforter; second, the transform- 
ing power of the Comforter ; and third, the conditions 
under which the Comforter was sent. 

I 

The word translated "Comforter" is the Greek 
"Paraclete." But this new and unusual word means 

211 



212 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

little to the average reader of the New Testament. In 
the margin of the Revised Version are found two other 
words which aid us to understand who the Comforter 
is and what He does. An examination of these mar- 
ginal renderings may be profitable. 

"Comforter" may be translated "Advocate." An 
advocate is one who speaks for another and presents 
the merits of his case in the most favorable light pos- 
sible. The word is pictorial, it suggests a courtroom 
scene and an able advocate impressively arguing or 
pleading for his client. There may have been some 
famous advocates, men so eloquent, so persuasive, with 
such a comprehensive knowledge of the law that merely 
to put one's case in such good hands meant freedom 
from anxiety. Think what it must have meant to se- 
cure the talents of such advocates as William F. Evarts, 
Rufus Choate or Daniel Webster. The Comforter of 
the Holy Spirit is an "Advocate." Advocate for 
whom ? For us or for God ? In a sense for both. On 
the one hand bearing witness of Him to us; on the 
other bearing witness of us to Him. So Jesus in leav- 
ing His disciples promised them the presence of the 
"Advocate." And there is in the word a wealth of 
suggestion. 

The second word in the margin translating "Para- 
clete" is the familiar word "helper." Thus Jesus spoke 
to His disciples — "If I go not away the Helper will 
not come." Here is a word that everybody under- 
stands. In many of the well-known trades a full- 
fledged journeyman is assisted by an apprentice who 
is called a "helper." That helper serves his fellow 
craftsman in many capacities. The Holy Spirit, the 



WHAT AND WHERE IS THE HOLY SPIRIT? 213 

Spirit of God, Christ's Spirit, is our helper, ready and 
willing to help us in matters great or small. There are 
>ome specific ways in which the Spirit helps the fol- 
ower of the Christ. These ways are set forth in the 
Scripture. He is, for instance, a "teacher." When 
the Great Teacher was parted from His disciples, when 
He left this world in physical presence, He sent His 
Spirit to teach us. We may learn of Him many things ; 
)e instructed of Him in the deepest subjects, even 
though we cannot sit at the feet of Jesus as did Mary 
in the home at Bethany. The Spirit is also a "Guide." 
And what blessed help Divine guidance is in a world 
where the way is dark and doubtful. The Holy Spirit 
is our unfailing guide. Still again; the Holy Spirit 
bears witness and testifies, that is to say, He confirms 
and substantiates spiritual truth. Certainly this word 
"Helper" is aptly applied to the Spirit of God which 
teaches, guides, and bears witness. The Spirit also 
convicts of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. 
This is work of the Holy Spirit among those who are 
of the "world." And even in this capacity the term 
"helper" is most appropriate. 

Help of the helpless, O abide with me. 

In addition to the words "Advocate" and "Helper" 
there is a third which translates "Comforter" quite 
accurately; a term, too, which has come to have 
through the World War a very large place in popular 
favor. This term is "Ally." The Holy Spirit that 
Christ imparts is our ally ; Divinity fighting for us and 
with us. It is the knowledge of this ally that enables 
many an apparently hard-pressed and all but defeated 



214 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

man to say, "They that be with me are more than they 
that be against me." There was a ballad much sung 
during the last months of the great war which describes 
a blind French soldier sitting by the window of his own 
home, his little son by his side. They heard the sound 
of martial music and of tramping men. The blind 
French soldier requested the little boy to tell him what 
division of soldiery was passing by. The boy looked 
out of the window and was mystified by the sight of 
strange khaki-clad men bearing a flag that was new to 
him. When he reported what he saw to his father, the 
blind Frenchman became greatly excited. Breathlessly 
he asked the boy if there were white stars on a blue 
field in the flag; he asked him if there were broad 
stripes of red and white. The little fellow answered 
"yes," and the blind soldier leaped to his feet exclaim- 
ing — "They have come! The Americans have come! 
France and the cause of liberty is saved. Our great 
ally is here !" So may we think of this Spirit of God 
and Christ, the Holy Spirit, not only as a Comforter, 
as Teacher, as Guide, as Revealer, as Advocate and 
Helper, but as our great Ally — Almighty God, Him- 
self. Our Great Ally is here ! 



The coming of the Comforter brought a transform- 
ing power into the lives of the followers of Jesus. 
Symbolically He bestowed the Spirit upon His disciples 
when after His resurrection He appeared among them 
in the upper room in Jerusalem. Then, "He breathed 
upon His disciples and sayeth unto them, — receive ye 
the Holy Spirit." Actually and in power the Spirit 



WHAT AND WHERE IS THE HOLY SPIRIT? 215 

came on the day of Pentecost following His resurrec- 
tion, came according to His promise; and with the 
coming of the Comforter, the Advocate, the Helper, 
the Ally, the Church was born. Observe the amazing 
difference the coming of the Spirit made in the lives 
of that little group of disciples. At the time of their 
Master's arrest they all forsook Him and fled. In the 
court of the High Priest, Simon Peter weakened and 
lost his courage in the presence of a saucy maid who 
twitted him with being a follower of the Nazarene. 
After His crucifixion that little group came together 
again, but they came in fear; they met in secrecy and 
behind locked doors. His followers were like sheep 
without a shepherd, they were broken in spirit and 
apparently all power had gone from their lives. The 
Comforter came. The Advocate arrived. The great 
Ally emerged. The Helper was at hand. The Spirit 
entered into the lives of men who had been cowardly, 
and made them bold as lions. Peter, who had denied 
his Lord, became the spokesman on that memorable 
day of Pentecost. His words were full of fire. He 
spoke with authority and was unafraid. In the pres- 
ence of a great multitude he charged them with having 
crucified Jesus who had become both Lord and Christ. 
A little while later Peter and John, having been ar- 
rested, were brought in chains before the Jewish Coun- 
cil and threatened by that august body not to teach or 
preach any more in the name of Jesus. How magnifi- 
cently those two disciples answered that threat. 
"Whether it is right in the sight of God to hearken 
unto you rather than unto God, judge ye: for we 
cannot but speak the things which we saw and heard." 



/ 



216 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

Stephen, in the presence of the High Priest and the 
members of the high council on trial for his very life, 
spoke with the same utter disregard of his own for- 
tunes, and with a boldness that cannot be explained 
except by the presence of the Comforter which was 
with him in power and might. Then when sentence 
of death had been passed upon Stephen and they took 
him out of the City and stoned him, he died with a 
prayer on his lips — a prayer of forgiveness for those 
who did the stoning and with his face aglow with the 
glory of God. 

The history of the Apostolic Church is the Gospel 
of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, the Advocate, the 
Helper, the Ally. The book of Acts thrills with this 
infilling of the Divine Spirit in the lives of the follow- 
ers of Christ. The letters of Paul glow with the same 
light. No wonder D. L. Moody said, "The Holy Spirit 
is God at work." Another eminent Christian and a 
great scholar said, "The Holy Spirit is God in action." 
Wherever a great Christian man or woman lives, it 
will be found that the reason for their potent and 
fruitful activity is because something is added to their 
personalities and that something is the Spirit of God. 
"I live, and yet not I but Christ liveth in me," cried 
Paul. Paul plus the Holy Spirit accounts for his 
career of incredible zeal. 

The history of the Foreign Missionary enterprise^ 
affords another illustration of the transforming power 
of the Holy Spirit. We are tempted here at home to 
find substitutes for the Spirit, it is not so with our 
fellow-workers in the waste places of the earth. They 
are Spirit-filled and Spirit-led; there is a power and 



WHAT AND WHERE IS THE HOLY SPIRIT? 217 

poise in their lives which, with few exceptions, make 
them a marked and set apart group of workers for the 
Lord. When Henry M. Stanley found David Living- 
stone after many months of search, he found him in 
the very heart of the wildest section of Africa, a broken 
\man physically, but spiritually full of fire and with 
'faith unshaken. Stanley urged him to return to the 
comfort and ease of civilization and the great popular 
acclaim that awaited him in England. It was a tre- 
mendous temptation, but Livingstone arose superior 
to it. He would not leave his post of duty. Stanley 
could not understand it at the time, but as he reflected 
upon the matter it became increasingly clear. Living- 
stone plus the Holy Spirit, plus Christ, plus God — that 
is the explanation. 

in 

The coming of the Comforter was conditioned upon 
Jesus* going away. "It is expedient for you," He said, 
"That I go away, for if I go not away the Comforter 
will not come unto you." The blessing of the absent 
Christ was the coming of the Spirit. At the time, the 
disciples could not understand how by the deprivation 
of Jesus' physical presence there would come still 
[greater blessing through His spiritual presence. In 
(that upper room the thought of Jesus' going away held 
only pain for His friends and followers, but they were 
;soon to learn that it was only through His going that 
the greater gain could come. Up to this time the dis- 
ciples were dependent upon the physical presence of 
their Lord in order to serve Him best, but they were to 
do the "greater works" under the spell of His Spirit, 



218 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

not His physical presence. In His physical presence 
He was with them; by the coming of the Comforter, 
— the Spirit of Truth — -He was in them. Says Bishop 
Brent : "The presence of the Paraclete took the place 
of the localized Christ not as a bare substitute but as 
that which constitutes a superior presence, including 
all that is held formerly and adding greatness to great- 
ness, riches to wealth. In going Christ came in a ful- 
ness which was wanting before He went, the fulness of 
added availability, a higher degree of presence." 

How easy it is for us to place our dependence upon 
the physical, that which we can see, touch, and hear or 
taste. How difficult for us to trust the Spirit unseen 
and intangible. It does not come easy to say and be- 
lieve it: 'Tor we look not at the things which are 
seen but at the things that are unseen, for the things 
which are seen are temporal, but the things which are 
not seen are eternal." The Apostle learned that truth 
in the school of the Comforter. By the withdrawal of 
Jesus' physical presence there came the unspeakable 
gift of the Comforter, Advocate, Helper and Ally, 
never absent, ever ready to bless, to heal, to guide. 

In this fact that it was expedient for Christ to go 
away that the greater blessing might come, is there 
not a principle admitting of wide application? Is it 
expedient that these apparent losses should come to us 
in order that the greater gain may take their place? 
Take the solemn matter of death, and the separation 
from us of those we love and upon whose support we 
lean. The anguish of separation is often too deep 
even for tears. And yet, to those who hold the faith 
of Jesus Christ, by that very experience new avenues 



WHAT AND WHERE IS THE HOLY SPIRIT? 219 

of power have been opened, and if the world of sense 
and sound becomes less absorbing the world of Spirit 
becomes more real. Absent in body, present in the 
spirit, those dear ones seem closer than breathing, 
nearer than hands or feet. 

Was it expedient that our loved ones left us in the 
flesh, that we should know them the more intimately 
in the realm of the Spirit? Was it expedient that we 
should lose their physical fellowship that we mfght 
gain their spiritual companionship? In what seemed 
all loss, is there not all gain? Is there not a higher 
spiritualism than that which attempts to establish com- 
munication with the dead, a faith which knows, realizes 
and rejoices in a spiritual communion with those who 
have gone from us ? I do not attempt to answer these 
questions. I raise them and leave them unanswered. 
There are depths here which we have not fathomed; 
there are heights here yet unsealed; vast areas not yet 
explored. Jesus brought to the world a new release 
of spiritual power by means of the withdrawal of His 
physical presence. Beware lest we think or speak of 
our Lord as though He were "an absentee Christ." 
Jesus is here. He is here in spiritual power. Here in 
the person of the Comforter, the Advocate, Helper and 
Ally. To quote the words of a great modern Chris- 
tian: "He is nearer to us, not farther, than He was 
to those fishermen in Galilee, but we seem slower to 
forsake our boats and nets than they were. He means 
us, through His all-embracing, all-reconciling presence, 
to do greater works than ever He did as an individual 
there; not to spend our time and energy in arguing 
about those less great works of His, whether and how 



220 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

they were done." We need not pray for the Comforter 
to come. He has come! We need not plead for the 
sending of the Spirit. He is here! We have but to 
receive Him, be filled with Him and be led by Him. 

No distant Lord have I, longing afar to be; 

Made flesh for me He cannot rest until He rests in me. 

Broken in joy and pain, bone of my bone is He; 

Now intimacy clearer still, He dwells himself in me. 

I need not journey for this dearest friend to see, 

Companionship is always mine, He makes His home with me. 



XVII 

THE CHRISTMAS LYRIC 

A Hymn of the Nativity set to Music by The Holy 
Spirit ? 



Luke 2:8-20. 

And there were shepherds in the same coun- 
try abiding in the field, and keeping watch by- 
night over their flock. And an angel of the 
Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord 
shone round about them: and they were sore 
afraid. And the angel said unto them, Be not 
afraid ; for behold, I bring you good tidings of 
great joy which shall be to all the people: for 
there is born to you this day in the city of 
David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. 
And this is the sign unto you: Ye shall find 
a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and 
lying in a manger. And suddenly there was 
with the angel a multitude of the heavenly 
host praising God, and saying, 

Glory to God in the highest, 
And on earth peace among men 
in whom He is well pleased. 

And it came to pass, when the angels went 
away from them into heaven, the shepherds 
said one to another, Let us now go even unto 
Bethlehem, and see this thing that is come to 
pass, which the Lord hath made known unto 
us. And they came with haste, and found both 
Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in the 
manger. And when they saw it, they made 
known concerning the saying which was 
spoken to them about this child. And all that 
heard it wondered at the things which were 
spoken unto them by the shepherds. But 
Mary kept all these sayings, pondering them 
in her heart. And the shepherds returned, 
glorifying and praising God for all the things 
that they had heard and seen, even as it was 
spoken unto them. 



XVII 
THE CHRISTMAS LYRIC 

So interwrought are some compositions with certain 
impressive occasions or illustrious names that it is 
quite impossible to think of one and not the other. 
One seldom hears, for instance, the stately measures of 
the famous march in Lohengrin without thinking of 
a wedding, particularly a church wedding. The stir- 
ring hymn "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" suggests 
the name of Martin Luther. Thomas Knox's "Why 
Should the Spirit of Mortal Be Proud?" serves to re- 
call the life of Abraham Lincoln, whose favorite poem 
it was. Comes Christmas — and the one passage of 
Scripture that the occasion invariably selects is Saint 
Luke's story of the birth of Jesus. Last night in many 
a home this story was read to children just before they 
said "Our Father Who Art in Heaven" or "Now I 
Lay Me Down to Sleep." In tens of thousands of 
Churches this morning this Scripture will be read and 
made the basis of innumerable sermons. 

Comment upon so flawless a production seems super- 
fluous until one remembers that it is possible to praise 
this narrative extravagantly and at the same time not 
relate it in any practical way to present day affairs or 
personal life. This is a peril always present, a tend- 
ency everywhere observable. Today, with tokens of 
223 



224 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

the Christmas event on every hand and this place still 
vibrant with the melody of "Silent Night," we can do 
nothing better than to reflect on this Christmas lyric, 
for such it is — a hymn set to music by the Holy Spirit. 

The poetry of this passage is exquisitely fine. Could 
anything of the kind be lovelier or more simply told 
than the birth of Jesus as chronicled by "the beloved 
physician." Here is an event — the most momentous 
of all history, yet in its telling there is no embellishment 
nor any tendency to lengthen out detail. The entire 
twenty verses tucked away in a corner of a modern 
newspaper would attract little attention and might easily 
be overlooked. In twelve sentences the world's greatest 
love story is told ; the birth of humanity's most colossal 
Figure described. 

The scene here described is pastoral, and the locality 
already famed in Biblical lore. Over these same hills, 
hundreds of years before, David had tended his father's 
flock and fought successfully the lion and bear that at- 
tacked the sheep. Years later the Shepherd King, fa- 
miliar with both the sweets and the bitterness of re- 
nown, musing on his boyhood days, commemorated 
them in that Psalm of Psalms — the Psalm of the Shep- 
herd's crook, of green pastures and still waters. On 
these identical hills, to the shepherds abiding in the 
fields and keeping watch over their flock, the Good 
News came. Jesus' life was curiously linked with 
shepherds and the shepherding ministry. He called 
Himself the Good Shepherd, spoke of His disciples 
as His flock, and said that He had "other sheep" not 
of the recognized fold. 

Why were shepherds so signally honored as to be 



THE CHRISTMAS LYRIC 225 

the first to hear the good tidings? Why was not this 
stupendous event communicated first to a group of 
learned Rabbis or others of the wise, the renowned, 
and the great? Is God a respecter of persons? Was 
this high honor reserved for peasants just because they 
were poor? Was this distinction withheld from the 
learned, the great, the rich, just because they were 
learned, and great, and rich? I think not. There is, 
to be sure, a fitness in the fact that the first heralding 
of Jesus' coming should have been to the humble and 
the lowly. The great majority of the peoples of earth 
are poor and their lives a battle for 'bread and for 
shelter almost from the cradle to the grave. Even 
so, we may believe that this was not the chief reason 
that shepherds were the first to learn of the Saviour's 
birth. Rather was it not because they were best fitted 
spiritually to receive the great Word? Edersheim, 
learned author of one of the best known "Lives of 
Christ" says that the flocks of sheep watched and tended 
in the vicinity of Jerusalem were for sacrifice in the 
Temple and that their guardians were not ordinary 
shepherds. Whether he is correct or not, we cannot be 
far wrong in assuming that the watchers of the flock 
that night of nights possessed a certain preparation of 
mind and affections to receive the Revelation. The 
learned, the famous, the exalted of that day, as pos- 
sibly of all other days, were troubled about many things. 
Their lives were already full and, after the manner of 
the Inn at Bethlehem, they had no room for the Great 

Gift. 

So it came about that the Great Light shone upon 
the shepherds as they kept watch by night over the 



226 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

sheep. An angel of the Lord stood by them and pro- 
claimed the good tidings of great joy; then others of 
the celestial band appeared, and they praised God, say- 
ing — "Glory to God in the Highest.'' Angels! How 
the word revives memories that bless and burn. An- 
gels! Messengers of Almighty God; visitants from a 
better order of society than this world of sin and death. 
Angels! Blessed belief that God has His messengers 
of mercy, His heralds of hope, His personal represen- 
tatives who can go anywhere, at any time, under any 
conditions. Angels! The word vivifies my remem- 
brance of a little girl, nearing the boundaries of the 
unseen and struggling for life; her speech no longer 
coherent, but on her lips, clear and distinct, one word 
was repeated over and over again — "Angels," "An- 
gels," "Angels." Oh, the exquisite poetry, the lovely 
language, the unending glory of this Christ Lyric of 
Jesus' birth in Bethlehem. 

It was not a mere contingency that the birth of Jesus 
should be inseparably linked with peace among men. 
Peace on earth is the note exultant in this lyric of 
Christmas. The New Testament is a Book of peace, 
not of battles ; a book that pronounces a blessing upon 
the peace-makers and promises they shall be called the 
children of God. Between the peace spirit and ideals 
of the Gospels and the history of nineteen centuries 
called Christian, there is something incongruous, dis- 
cordant and discouraging. Save for brief seasons and 
in restricted areas, Peace on Earth has not yet pre- 
vailed. Christendom has much to her stock of credit — » 
much that is glorious and monumental, but Christen- 
dom has yet to know the victory of peace on earth. No 



THE CHRISTMAS LYRIC 227 

sadder spectacle has the world beheld than that of the 
followers of the Prince of Peace hacking each other 
down with the sword, assailing each other with gasses 
that scorch and shrivel the lungs, blasting each other 
to bits with bombs, drowning each other at sea by the 
wholesale, hymning hate against each other to the bit- 
ter end. 

Peace on earth depends upon good will between men. 
As long as hate reigns in the human heart, as long as 
covetousness crowds out the spirit of brotherliness, 
as long as jealousy and envy hold their sway over 
mankind, so long will wars endure. Mere limitation 
of armament is not enough — that of itself would be 
only a makeshift if the causes that produce war are not 
abolished. Destroy every battleship, scrap every sub- 
marine, wreck every bombing plane, muster out the 
soldiery now in ranks — do all this, but make no intelli- 
gent and consistent effort to create a new heart in man 
or open up a new outlet for his enthusiasms and ambi- 
tions, and some kind of war enginery, like the harvest 
of that famed crop of dragon teeth, will spring up 
over night. 

There are reasons for rejoicing this morning because 
world peace is a little nearer than it was a year ago; 
some progress has been made in the conference on Lim- 
itation of Armaments at Washington. More people 
are thinking peace today than ever before. The voice 
of the people in solemn protest is being heard in the 
councils of the nations with a new insistence ; but make 
no mistake, the Millennium is not at hand. The voice 
of the profiteer, the militarist, the granite-hearted ma- 
terialist who walks by sight and not by faith — their 



228 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

voices are still potent in behalf of armaments and a 
continuance of the old order. Not only so, but the 
motives for world peace must be deeper than for 
mere economic reasons if peace on earth endure. 

If Disarmament is desired chiefly because it would 
reduce taxes and produce a revival of business, we may 
believe that army and naval disarmament might come 
to pass, and we should have in its stead a commercial 
and industrial armament as deadly and as difficult to 
conquer as the old and familiar kind. Peace on Earth 
— well it simply cannot come until there is good will 
among men. Good will among men is retarded by 
racial pride, handicapped by commercial jealousies, 
hindered by biased partisanship, crippled and ham- 
strung by a mean and narrow sectarianism. The core 
of Jesus' teaching is the supremacy of love and of sac- 
rifice, the ministry of service and of mercy, the mighti 
ness of right and justice. If we are to have peace 
among men, men must know the peace which is Christ's. 
His peace was an inward experience before it became 
an outward manifestation. His peace was a result 
of obedience to the laws of the Spirit. He walked in 
full fellowship with the Father because from a child 
He learned obedience. It is possible for society to keep 
the laws in a formal way and still bend and break the 
laws of love and remain anarchists in the realm of the 
Spiritual. There will never be peace on earth until 
that Gospel of good will which Jesus taught be medi- 
ated through the lives of those who accept His teach- 
ing, and narrow nationalism, racial hostilities and sec- 
tarian bigotry give way to a Christian commonwealth 
— worldwide in its scope. 



THE CHRISTMAS LYRIC 229 

In the very center of this matchless story is the 
Child; the chief actor in this world drama 'is the Babe 
at Bethlehem. The shepherds, the angels, the manger, 
the star — these are all incidental. Christianity began 
with a child, and no teaching of Jesus is more funda- 
mental than when He said : "Suffer the little children 
to come unto me; forbid them not, for of such is the 
Kingdom of God." What gesture of Jesus was of 
more consequence than when, having been asked by His 
disciples who should be regarded as the greatest in the 
Kingdom of Heaven, He called to Him a little child 
and set him in the midst of them, and said : "Verily I 
say unto you, except ye turn and become as little chil- 
dren, ye shall in no wise enter into the Kingdom of 
Heaven." Childhood has been wronged terribly, and 
the rights of the child have been as flagrantly disre- 
garded as the rights of womanhood. Babies have not 
always counted for much; there are places still where 
they count for little. There are corners of the earth 
where the Gospel has not yet come where babies, espe- 
cially girl babies, are slain ruthlessly and in great 
numbers; places where a puny or deformed baby is 
quickly put out of the way. There are plague spots of 
so-called Christian countries where babies are not born, 
but damned into the world, with scarcely a chance to 
live, to love and be loved. It was the Christ Himself 
who declared that it was not God's will that His little 
ones should perish. It is often man's will that the little 
one suffer and die so young. Sometimes this is due 
to ignorance, sometime^ to a perverse heart and a wrong 
conception of what Christianity is. 

Yes, a baby is in the center and at the very heart of 



230 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

this lyric of Saint Luke's Gospel. God's greatest Gift 
to the world came as a child — a helpless babe, born 
amidst poverty and off to one side of the highways 
of the world. Theodore Parker once said that a baby 
is better for the heart than a whole academy of philoso- 
phers, and of course he was right. A young mission- 
ary madonna, after bending over her first-born, wrote 
to friends at home — "I had no idea being a mother was 
so wonderful." The advent of a child in a home is 
always occasion for wonderment, a never-ceasing mir- 
acle, and to the seeing eye every mother's man child 
is haloed with a glory that only the mother-heart may 
know. Wordsworth was never more seer-like than 
when he wrote 

Heaven lies about us in our infancy. 

And there are other lines in the same noble ode that 
have been praised much, but not too much — 

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting: 
The soul that rises with us our life's star — 

Hath had elsewhere its setting, 

And cometh from afar, 

Not in entire forgetfulness, 

And not in utter nakedness, 
But trailing clouds of glory do we come 

From God, who is our home. 

There is a something in the touch of the hand of a 
little child more enchanting than that of a fairy's 
wand. I can understand how the hard heart of the 
leading character in a famous story melted utterly when 
he felt a child's soft cheek against his, and the tiny 
fingers on his neck and behind his ears and in his hair. 



THE CHRISTMAS LYRIC 2S1 

Then the trustfulness and the affection and the faith of 
a little child : what is there in all the world so irresist- 
ible? 

Well do I remember arriving in the Union Station 
at St Louis on a blustery winter night some years ago, 
and alighting from the car with me was a young mother 
and her baby, a beautiful child, possibly a year old. 
She was heavily burdened with baggage, and I offered 
to carry the child for her. She was a real mother, for 
she took a good look at me — a searching look — and 
then she handed the baby over to me. She expected to 
be met by some of her kinspeople in the station, so she 
informed me, but no one appeared, and after we had 
waited and looked about for some little time she said, 
"Would you mind keeping baby while I call up my rela- 
tives here?" Time was when such a request would 
have set me quaking and filled me with a nameless sort 
of fear, but that time was a good ways in the past. 
Only five hours before I had said good-by to my own 
frisky five. So I kept baby, and his mother disappeared 
in the direction of a telephone booth. She was gone a 
good ten minutes, and during her absence I paced up 
and down the long waiting room, holding the little 
fellow snug in my arms. He was a dear; he was con- 
tent; he trusted me perfectly. He rested his velvety 
cheek against mine and gazed at me out of his big 
blue eyes as one who had absolute faith, never doubt- 
ing but that even a stranger would protect him from 
the smallest harm. His little soft hand stole around 
my neck and rested there ever so lightly. I thought of 
the lines : 



232 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUND 

Softer it seemed than the softest down 
On the breast of the gentlest dove 
And its timid press and its sweet caress 
Were strong in the strength of love. 

By and by and his mother returned. I helped her and 
her young son into a taxi and said good-night, and 
the little stranger vanished out of my life as quickly as 
he came into it, but he left a memory tender and 
precious. 

God hath joined together the cradle and Christmas. 
Christianity has coronated childhood. God gives us 
children, but the molding of them for better or for 
worse — that ministry is our own. Christ put the child 
in our midst, but society has for a greater part set 
him to one side — neglected, slighted and wronged him. 
If we want peace on earth there is a way to get it: 
train the child in the teachings of Jesus; train him to 
think peace, not war ; rear him in the ideals of brother- 
hood; teach him the supremacy of service — but to do 
that successfully the child must have for environment 
a society that is Christian not only on Sunday but 
seven days in the week. 

Christmas helps us to evaluate the children in our 
home at their true worth. Surely the blessed birthday 
of our Lord is a family festival like unto no other. 
There is a story which inspired a much admired paint- 
ing called "Content." A Chinese beggar is shown 
coming in before his king. With the beggar are two 
small sons. He claims to be penniless; he asks for 
money. The king promises to give him all that his 
heart should desire, but there is one condition : the 
beggar must give in return one half of his visible 



THE CHRISTMAS LYRIC 233 

wealth. To this he readily agrees for he believes he has 
no wealth. Then the king mentions in detail his pay- 
ment, and the first item he calls for is one of the lads. 
The beggar had not thought of his boys as wealth and 
he is staggered by the request. In the end, the mendi- 
cant goes away from the court with an arm about each 
boy, content with what he has. The story is good as 
far as it goes, but it does not go far enough. It is costly 
to rear children and give them a chance in the world. 
If society were really Christian, beggars would be rare, 
and rarer still the children of beggars, to be dwarfed, 
hindered and cursed by poverty's blight. 

Christmas in many a home this year cannot but be 
different from Christmas of a year ago. Oh, what a 
company of children whose shouts and merry laughter 
made music a year ago have since gone from us by 
way of the great pilgrimage of death. How small their 
feet, and how brave to take that long journey with 
never a doubt or a fear! Thrice blessed is the truth 
that the Christmas lyric includes not only poetry, 
charm and color but comfort as well. He whose birth 
we commemorate, — He who said: "Suffer the little 
children to come unto Me," — shall He not bless and 
comfort the heavy heart in the homes where Christmas 
today is not the same nor ever can be as it was ere the 
charmed circle was broken? It was the Christ who 
said of these little ones, "their angels do always behold 
the face of my Father Who is in Heaven." 



O Christmas, merry Christmas! 

Is it really come again? 
With its memories and greetings, 

With its joy and with its pain. 



234 WHEN JESUS WROTE ON THE GROUNE 

There's a minor in the carol, 

And a shadow in the light, 
And a spray of cypress twining 

With the holly-wreath tonight. 
And the hush is never broken 

By laughter, light and low, 
As we listen in the starlight 

To the "bells across the snow." 

O Christmas, merry Christmas! 

'Tis not so very long 
Since other voices blended 

With the carol and the song! 
If we could but hear them singing 

As they are singing now, 
If we could but see the radiance 

Of the crown on each dear brow, 
There would be no sighs to smother, 

No hidden tear to flow, 
As we listen in the starlight 

To the "bells across the snow." 

O Christmas, merry Christmas! 

This never more can be; 
We cannot bring again the days 

Of our unshadowed glee. 
But Christmas, happy Christmas, 

Sweet herald of goodwill, 
With holy songs of glory 

Brings holy gladness still. 
For peace and hope may brighten, 

And patient love may glow, 
As we listen in the starlight 

To the "bells across the snow." 



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